Ube (ooh-beh), the deliciously deep flavored purple yam that’s a Filipino staple, has returned to the summer spotlight. Filling up the shelves of Trader Joe’s are the classic ube cookies and (probably one of my favorite) the ube mochi pancake mix, ube is back this season that’s filled with more flavor, more inspiration, and more food.
Several weeks ago, I attended the wonderful Ube Festival which, this year, was held in conjunction with the famous Smorgasburg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I went to last year’s Ube Festival that was held at Canal Street Market, which started out as a small event filled with local vendors and beloved classic ube desserts, as well as different fusions and new recipes (I tried an “ube cocktail” that comprised of rum and ube halaya!). Now, on one of the warmest days of June in one of the biggest food festivals in New York City, the Ube Festival has become the busiest hub spotlighting Filipino food.
I wrote a piece last year that also discussed the frenzy of ube, drawing back to its history like how it was once considered a “sacred food” because it was the only crop that survived famines and droughts. But the origins of when Filipinos actually started incorporating ube into desserts are still relatively unknown, with no written documentation. The earliest known usage appeared in a cookbook with a recipe for jalea de calabza (pumpkin jam) that seemed to have mentioned ube. It was also labelled as a camote (sweet potato) in the the first Tagalog and Spanish dictionary that was published in 1613 (it was, later on, recognized as a yam than a sweet potato).
Trader Joes have also been restocking their seasonal ube collection, featuring ube mochi pancake mix (perhaps my favorite because of its gooey and sweet texture), ube tea cookies, ube ice cream mochi, ube spread, ube pretzel, and so on. They’ve been crazy for ube, coming up with more fun ways to eat the purple yam. I also liked how Trader Joes label ube as a Filipino product - although the Philippines doesn’t have “copyrights” to ube, it has become internationally recognized as a trademark in Filipino culture. Similar to how pasta is seen as the staple in Italian cuisine.
The Trader Joe’s ube collection shows us that ube can be eaten in limitless forms (whoever came up with ube mochi pancakes deserves a raise). Some of my favorites are the classics like eating halo-halo with ube ice cream, puto bumbong with ube halaya (or ube jam), and pandesal as well as ube halaya on its own!
What are some of your favorite ube desserts or recipes?
In other news…
The famous Filipino food chain known for their chicken joy is facing accusations of labor law violations, as former employees are protesting unfair wages and bad work conditions. (More reporting to come)
Infant nutritionist company, Gerber, announced Madison Mendoza as this year’s Gerber baby. Madison is a military of two Filipino parents, Crystal and Jun Mendoza. (Full story here)
The Philippines Fest is an upcoming popup event featuring local Filipino vendors, food, music, and great vibes! Held in Union Square, New York City from 10am - 6pm ET on Aug 27 (More info here)
The ube pancake mix at Trader Joe’s is the bomb. I’m glad to see ube making it into more stores and shops that aren’t started by Filipinos. I still scratch my head as to why Filipino culture isn’t more embraced in American society after all these years of the two countries working together.