“Filipino Food Cravings in Malaysia is Uneasy: Halo-Halo and Balut You Can't Resist”

Hello everyone, to many Filipinos like me living in Malaysia, that pinoy food is hard to get most have to travel far to get the craving, my part still not so bad I only need to travel the famous place for all filipinos I take 40minutes to 1hour to get the place, pinoy foods it’s a deep connection as filipino in abroad, we can feel our homeland. The scents, flavors, and textures of Filipino foods bring comfort and offer a taste of home. Anyway, Malaysian food also offers an amazing mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other international cuisines, but Filipino food can still be hard to come by in its authentic form. For those craving comfort food, we always come to Kotaraya Mall. any kind of Filipino food is there, like what I did; I went to the place to get the food I crave and the two dishes I crave is Halo-Halo and Balut. These foods are not easy to find here in Malaysia. I have to wait for a long time to have it, and the balut I have to go with timing or else will be sold out, I’m still lucky I arrive a bit late my friend working in salon she already book for me hehehe, but this are beloved by Filipinos and have become an essential part of their food cravings abroad.

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“Halo-Halo: A Creamy and Sweet Refreshing Dessert”
One of the comforting desserts Filipinos and many of my country people crave when living abroad is Halo-Halo. This refreshing dessert, which translates to mix-mix in English, is something I like to have when the weather is like hot summer. It’s especially a treat for hot weather. It's a mixture of grated ice, sweet beans, jellies, fruits, and leche flan, topped with a scoop of ice cream and a little purple yam (ube). The dish is as much about the textures as the combination of flavors. The smoothness of the leche flan, the crunch of each bite of the ice, and the sweet creaminess of the ice cream all come together in harmony each mouth.



Here in Malaysia, they also have almost the same type of dessert, and they call it ice kacang or cendol, where tropical fruits and ice-based milk and they have mix some fruits and one recipe that I can’t explain what is it, but the desserts are widely popular, here in Malaysia like Halo-Halo in philipines, in theory, be easy to recreate almost same concept of the recipe. However, the halo halo has more ingredients, particularly the unique authentic Filipino dessert ingredients such as ube, langka (jackfruit), and the right type of beans, which can be challenging. Many Filipino friends of mine experience a sense of longing when the craving hits but are left disappointed by the lack of a true Halo-Halo experience in Malaysia. Sure, we also try to make in deferent ingredient but it doesn’t come out well, we must get the correct ingredients, the authentic flavors are often missed.


“Balut: A Taste That Not Everyone Likes”
This dish is nice, but not everybody dares to taste the intense flavor of the balut. This street food, often sold by vendors along Filipino roadsides or at the night people walk around and shout balut, when we want to eat this balut in our country we just wait the guy who sell this we no need to go to restaurants or market, this food of a fertilized duck egg with a developing embryo inside. Normally, we consume it warm, with a pinch of salt, pepper, and vinegar. Many Filipinos claim that eating Balut is not just about filling hunger but about feeling a strong connection to Filipino culture. In Malaysia, finding Balut can be challenging; egg-based dishes like salted eggs or the famous Malay dish "telur pindang," balut remain rare here in Malaysia, unlike in Thailand, where they have they are own way of preparing balut, and balut is also street food in Thailand. For me, as I have grown up enjoying Balut, my craving has become a complement. The occasional feeling of longing for that authentic experience of eating pinoy ligacy, Then I also have my lunch and I had the porksilog, porksilog is a alacart food can get in small restaurants in philipines especially around the schools, because this food is affordable for students and also have few varities. Mostly once a month I can this place to satisfy all my cravings and buy all Filipino goods for the house, the kids, and husband are excited when I’m home because I buy something for them also.