YOUR FAVORITE HALO-HALO PLACES: Kabigting’s Halo-Halo

This summer, we asked Youscoopers to name their favorite halo-halo places. We tallied the responses and five establishments—three with headquarters in Pampanga, one in Cavite, and one in Metro Manila—came out on top.

But we weren't content to leave it at that. GMA's own Tonipet Gaba took on the challenge of trying what each of these places has to offer, and now has delivered his verdict.

Presented in no particular order, here is the third of your top five halo-halo places.

Kabigting’s Halo-Halo
The Pride of Arayat
P70/one size
2nd Floor Nepo Mall, Food Court Angeles, Pampanga

In the 1970’s, Flora and Jacinto Kabigting had a small sari-sari store in Palaraya, Arayat and were thinking of altering the usual halo-halo that every other neighbor sold outside their gates. Jacinto's sister Geraldine suggested incorporating sugared white kidney beans (they come in different colors) into the mix.

What resulted was a phenomenon that soon reached my beloved Tita Susan Calo-Medina and had her featuring it on her travel show.

Soon—and mind that there were no e-mails then—word of mouth reached other publications, food critics like Doreen Fernandez and even homesick Filipinos in the United States.

Today, Irynne Kabigting-Miranda and her husband Benjamin are running this family enterprise and they have now diversified their menu with savory merienda fare. And you need not drive all the way to Arayat to experience it. Expect to find them in select malls and around the busy commercial districts of the city and even in Quezon City!

On my pit stop to Angeles, I was fortunate to stumble upon their small branch inside a popular mall’s food court. My first spoonful had me wide-eyed and intrigued.

What hit my palate was a shift in flavors from sweet and chewy bean paste to what seemed like pastillas mixed with heavy evaporated milk. Don’t get me wrong, it was fascinatingly delicious. I tried scraping for at least one or two of the usual suspects like sweetened bananas or red mung beans, but there were none. Only these.

What you’ll get is a texture that is both chunky and velvety.

The white beans are the most interesting component. What they do is provide a subtle oaky and salty bean flavor that brings out the sweetness of the creamed corn. Though it mildly clashes with the sweetness of the carabao’s milk pastillas (I just had to go to their kitchen and ask the staff myself; I find joy in researching on food and conducting it like this), it makes perfect sense. A concoction that is just cohesive and screams pure genius. Arayat should be proud.