Razon’s halo-halo and flavored suman

The same day we bought the potted herbs at Market! Market! in Global City, my husband, Speedy, suggested we eat a quick snack at the outdoor food court before proceeding to the bookstore for some school supplies for the kids. He also suggested we buy the potted herbs last so we could carry them directly to the car. Who was I to say no to Razon’s halo-halo? To complete the all-Filipino theme of our afternoon merienda, I walked the few steps to the flavored suman stall while our glasses of halo-halo were being prepared. So, you got that right—the flavored suman was not from Razon’s. I’m just lumping two Filipino delicacies in one entry because Speedy and I enjoyed them on a single occasion and the photo looks screwed when I tried to crop it to write two different entries.

I grew up thinking that halo-halo was not complete unless it had everything. And by everything I meant all kinds of sweets in, oh, so many colors—sweetened saging na saba, kaong, nata de coco, beans, garbanzos… Until I experienced Razon’s halo-halo, I never realized that the completeness of this Filipino delicacy does not lie in how many kinds of sweets there are but in the quality of the sweets and the proper combination. Razon’s which opened it’s first eatery in Pampanga decades ago, is credited with inventing the halo-halo. I don’t know whether “invented” is an accurate term since there seems to be versions of this basic sweet snack in other Southeast Asian cuisines.

Razon’s halo-halo has only three ingredients—cubes of sweetened saging na saba, strips of macapuno and leche flan—a perfect illustration of the classic statement that “you don’t have to shout to be noticed.” It’s been that way since the first Razon’s opened (according to an show in the Living Asia Channel) and it remains that way to this day. You just have to try it to understand why, sometimes, less is better.

The flavored suman was an afterthought. We passed by the suman stall while walking towards the food court. We were already seated and waiting for our halo-halo when I decided on impulse that the halo-halo would go well with suman. I wasn’t mistaken. They did go well together.

The flavored suman came in several varieties. I had seen a similar stall at Shangri-La Plaza last year but forgot to buy some on trial. Well, that day at Market! Market! I was finally able to sample two varieties—I bought a macapuno-flavored suman and a chocolate-flavored suman. Note that the chocolate-flavored suman you see in the photo was made with native cacao. There is another kind, made from Hershey’s chocolate, which did not interest me.

The idea of adding variety to the basic suman is great. Suman, by itself, is already good but imagine biting into bits of macapuno as you eat your suman. The one with the chocolate was good too but not as memorable as the one with macapuno.

The problem is the price. At PhP 25.00 per piece, that’s quite expensive considering that you can have six to eight newly-cooked—and still warm—suman for the same price along the sidewalks surrounding the Antipolo Cathedral. I’d pay a lot of money for a delicacy if the ingredients justify the price. But suman is basically just rice and coconut milk wrapped in wilted banana leaves. How can a few strips of macapuno or a teaspoonful or so of processed cacao justify the price? And… I bought them from a stall; I didn’t order them at the coffee shop of a five-star hotel. So, there.

Still and all, the suman and halo-halo merienda was great.

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