Ginataang Bilo Bilo is a delicious tropical treat in the Philippines made up of rice balls, various slices of different fruits, and tapioca pearls all soaked in a bowl od coconut milk. It’s a delicious concoction that’s best enjoyed as an afternoon snack or dessert and can be served warm or chilled.
Ginataang bilo bilo was one of the favorites snacks to serve during merienda in my household, especially for kids. I remember that my lola loved to experiment with different fruits and ingredients to dump into our bowls of sweet gooey goodness so it was always an exciting thing to see what combination she has come up with.
You can include various ingredients when making gintaang bilo bilo but the most common and traditional Filipino recipe for this snack includes ingredients like riceballs, coconut milk, langka (or jackfruit), and tapioca. You can opt not to include the langka and replace it with your preferred fruits but the coconut milk, rice balls, and tapioca can never be excluded because we wouldn’t be able to identify it as a ginataang bilo bilo dish.
As I look online, some websites categorize this dish as a kakanin but I’m not entirely sure about that because it’s commonly served indoors and you’ll hardly find any ginataang bilo-bilo vendors out at the streets during the holidays or at bus stops which I think plays a portion on what constitutes a kakanin these days, although it does use rice balls as the main ingredient.
I also found that there’s a similar Chinese dish called tangyuan which uses similar ingredients like glutinous rice rolled up in balls served in a bowl of water. The Chinese typically serve these colorful snacks during the Chinese New Year.
Maybe the Filipino ginataang bilo bilo dish was influenced by the Chinese tangyuan dish and made our own version of it. Other websites also call it the warm version of halo-halo. Who knows. But I’m pretty sure that ginataang bilo bilo is a staple Filipino snack and like many staple Filipino dishes in the Philippines, each household has its own version of this dish.
And again, it’s such a fun Filipino dish to experiment with using different fruits. The most typical one is langka or jackfruit but I’ve seen so many different versions in the internet including one with ube that turned the coconut milk a beautiful purple color. Many ginataang bilo-bilo also commonly use saba or ripe plantains. Whatever you can get your hands on, you can incorporate it in the recipe.
Plus it’s up to the household if they want to serve the snack cold or warm. We typically serve ginataang bilo-bilo warm especially during a rainy day or a particularly cold night but I can see the huge appeal of serving it chilled, especially during hot afternoons.
For my ginataang bilo bilo recipe, I like to keep it simple. I’m going to use all the classic ingredients plus some ripe plantains or saba and sweet potatoes sliced into small cubes. I’ll list all the ingredients and their measurements below. All of them are easily available in local markets all over the Philippines.
Now for the cooking process. I was surprised on my first time cooking ginataang bilo bilo is divided into three parts. I guess I was just so used to immediately being served a bowl of this sweet gooey goodness during my childhood that I had the impression that cooking it only takes a minute or two.
But gintaang bilo bilo is prepared by first cooking the rice balls, then the tapioca pearls, and finally the ginataan which basically mixed all the finished ingredients altogether. Of course, the fruits and other ingredients are prepped and sliced first before adding it into the bowl.
Onces you’ve got all everything prepared and ready, it’s only a matter of combining it all together and creating the beautifully creamy and delicious ginataang bilo bilo. Serve it warm or chilled depending on the time of day and weather and you’re guaranteed for a delicious snack or dessert. Have fun scooping up all the different ingredients in the bowl.
Here’s my ginataang bilo bilo recipe which you can easily follow. Enjoy!
Ginataang Bilo Bilo – Sticky Rice Balls in Coconut Milk Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ kilo Glutinous Rice Flour
- 1 big coconut milk,
- 2 cups of Sugar
- 2 pcs. of Sweet Potatoes (kamote) sliced
- 5 – 7 pcs. of Banana, (Saging na Saba)sliced
- 200 grams of Water Yam(Ube) sliced
- 100 grams of Jackfruit
- 1 cup cooked sago
- 1 Liter of Water
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients and slice them all.
- In the mixing bowl, mix the 2 and ½ cups of glutinous rice and vanilla.
- Add the 1 and ½ cup of water gradually and mix until it forms into soft dough.
- Get some dough and form it into small balls.
- Remain the ½ cup of rice flour dough and set aside.
- In a cooking pot, put the 1 liters of water and add the sliced water yam then cover it and wait to boil.
- Then add sliced sweet potatoes and add the 2 cups of sugar and cover it and cook for 3 – 5 minutes until slightly soft.
- Add the sliced banana and jackfruit then stir and cover it to continue boiling.
- Add the rice flour balls and mix it well then cover.
- The remaining rice flour dough is dissolved into ½ cup of water and set aside.
- Then add the coconut milk and sago then mix it well and cover it.
- Then lastly add the dissolved glutinous rice when all ingredients are already cooked.
- Allow to simmer until it thickens.
- Serve hot and Enjoy the Bilo – Bilo Recipe.
Youtube Video
FAQs
Ginataang Bilo bilo (or Ginataang Halo-halo) is a popular Filipino afternoon snack or dessert. Made with glutinous rice balls, plantain bananas, sweet potatoes and tapioca pearls that is cooked in sweet coconut milk, and to make it more special, jackfruit is also usually added.
What is bilo-bilo in English? ›
Bilo bilo comes from the Tagalog word “bilog,” which means “round.” Ginataang bilo bilo translates to rice balls cooked in coconut milk. What is this? There are many different variations of this sweet coconut soup, whether it's Filipino or even Vietnamese cuisine, like chè Thái or chè chuối.
How long does bilo-bilo last in the fridge? ›
Storage Instructions
Ginataang bilo-bilo will keep for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that the coconut soup will thicken as it cools, so if needed, add additional coconut milk to thin it out again.
What is the difference between bilo-bilo and binignit? ›
Binignit VS Bilo-bilo
One of the differences is that bilo-bilo has sticky rice balls, made from glutinous rice flour, while binignit uses glutinous rice to thicken the coconut milk as it cooks. Additionally, Binignit uses landang which is more popular in the Visayan region than in the north.
What is ginataan in English? ›
Ginataan (pronounced: GHEE-nah-ta-AN), alternatively spelled guinataan, is a Filipino term which refers to food cooked with gatâ (coconut milk). Literally translated, ginataan means "done with coconut milk".
What is Biko made of? ›
Biko is a rich, chewy Filipino rice cake made with sticky rice, coconut milk, and dark sugar. Traditionally served in a round, shallow bamboo tray lined with banana leaves known as a bilao, biko belongs to a category of sweets called kakanin, which is made up entirely of rice cakes.
Where did Ginataang Bilo Bilo originated in the Philippines? ›
Bilo-bilo's origin is in Luzon. There are different recipe versions depending on what region in the Philippines it is from. Some recipes call for young coconut meat and some call for adding pandan leaves.
What is binignit in English? ›
Binignit is a Visayan stew of fruit and tubers that's eaten as a snack or dessert. The tubers used are usually gabi (taro), ube (purple yam), and camote (sweet potato). The fruits are saba (cooking bananas) and langka (jackfruit). Milled or whole grains of glutinous rice are used as a thickening agent.
What is the other name for ginataang? ›
The word “Ginataang” in tagalog means cooked in coconut extract (milk or cream form). “Bilo-Bilo” and “Halo-Halo” are terms used for this dish, you can use either one of them. I remember when my family went to Quezon, some people there call this dish “Ginataang Pinindot-Pindot”.
Which is better, tapioca or sago? ›
If you plan to make desserts or drinks with pearls frequently, then tapioca pearls are definitely the better option since they are more accessible in stores and are cheaper. However, if you prefer a more authentic Southeast Asian recipe, then go for real sago pearls.
Homemade Ginataang Bilo Bilo (1 cup) contains 338g total carbs, 305g net carbs, 46g fat, 268g protein, and 2885 calories.
Is glutinous rice flour? ›
Glutinous (a.k.a. sweet) rice flour is ground from sticky rice grains (think butter mochi cakes); despite the word glutinous, there is no wheat gluten involved.
Is biko and suman the same? ›
On Panay Island where I was raised, we have at least three different kinds of suman: ibus (eeh-boos), which is the same sticky rice cake but wrapped in buri (palm leaves) and boiled; biko (bee-koh) made with whole rice kernels (not ground rice or rice flour) and cooked with coconut milk and brown sugar, then slathered ...
Is glutinous rice same as tapioca? ›
While substituting glutinous rice flour for tapioca starch is not a perfect match, it will help provide a similar chewy and sticky consistency. It's important to note that sweet rice flour is a raw flour. When using this flour, it must be thoroughly cooked before eating and cannot be eaten raw.
What is the substance or mixture of Ginataang Bilo-Bilo? ›
Ginataang bilo-bilo is made with sweetened coconut milk, sticky rice balls, mini sago, and langka strips. It's creamy, delicious, and makes a filling snack or dessert.
What is glutinous made out of? ›
Sweet rice flour, also known as glutinous rice flour, is a type of gluten-free flour made from ground sweet rice. It's used to make Hawaiian butter mochi, Japanese mochi, and tang yuan (Chinese sweet rice dumplings).
How to make sticky rice flour? ›
To produce glutinous rice flour, firstly glutinous rice shall be immersed in water for about two to three hours until it can be easily mashed by hand. In rural areas in China, the local people often use a stone mill to smash glutinous rice into rice milk.
What is dessert soup made of? ›
A popular dessert soup is one made with cooked taro, mini tapioca pearls, coconut milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened with rock sugar. Make no mistake, the consistency is definitely closer to soupy than pudding. The pale purple colour is quite attractive.
What is Latik made of? ›
Latík in Luzon is made from coconut milk simmered in a saucepan until it reduces to coconut oil and solids ("coconut curds") begin to form at the top surface. These solids are left to fry in the coconut oil until golden brown. In the Visayas, these solids are known as lunok in Cebuano; and balutai in Karay-a.
