Ube Halaya Recipe (Homemade Purple Yam Jam) - Hungry Huy (2024)

Ubehalaya, also known as “haleyangube” inTagalog, is basicallyubejam. While you can typically find freshubehalayaat your local Seafood City, you can also find it in preserved jars in thehalo halo aisle.

I prefer making my ownubejam from scratch or using freshubehalayafrom Seafood City (in thefridgedaisle) because it tastes better, whereas the jarredubejam includes preservatives like citric acid that might change the flavor ofube.

You can makeubehalayafrom freshuberoots, frozenube, or dehydrated powder.Lately, it’s been quite difficult to access freshuberoots, but I was able to findubepowder to make it intoubehalayafor future recipes. This recipe will show you how to properly rehydrateubepowder and turn it into an easyubejam that you can use for any type ofubedessert!

What isube, andubehalaya?

Ube is an indigenous yam from the Philippines. It’s well known for its vibrant purple flesh and dark brown skin—however, sometimes the vibrancy of the purple coloring varies betweenubetoube. It has a nutty, vanilla taste when it’s cooked and is pairs well with other tropical flavors like coconut.

Note thatubeis a purple yam. It’s often confused with the Okinawan purple sweet potato, but they vary in sweetness and skin color. Purple sweet potatoes have alight tan skin color vs yamsthat have a dark brown coloring forube.

Ubehalayais a basicubejam made from cookedube, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and other ingredients. All these ingredients are cooked down until it becomes a thick paste. You can either use onpandesalor other desserts. Often timesubehalayacan come in the shape of a mold similar to leche flan or a thicker paste in a jar like traditional jam.

Desserts that useubehalaya

Manyubedesserts that I’ve eaten and cooked includeubehalayaas a main ingredient—most of the time this is how many people include actualubein a recipe, in addition to usingubeextract. Some recipes that use thisubejam areube cake,ube waffle, andube crinkle cookies.

Where to buy jars ofubehalaya

If you don’t have time to make your ownubehalayaor you can’t find freshubehalayaat your local Filipino store, you can also use premadeubejam. Since they have a longer shelf life, you can also keep it on hand for future recipes. Here’s some online stores that sellubehalayaor other forms ofube:

• SarapNow:ube halayaandube powder
• Filipino Store:ube halayaandube powder
• Secret Pantry LA:ube powder

Types ofubeto use forhalaya

To makeubehalaya, you can use various forms ofube: freshubeyams, frozenube, and driedubepowder. For this recipe, I useubepowder because it was more readily available to me at the local Filipino market and also has a longer shelf life.

My favoriteubepowder brand is Fil-Choice brand because it’s smoother in texture, which helps during rehydration. I have tried Tropics brand as well, but it’s slightly rougher in texture.

Cooking tips

• Rehydrate yourubepowder first before cooking it down or adding the other ingredients. I like to put my powder and boiling water in a covered bowl and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. This allows theubepowder to rehydrate before cooking it down.
• Cook down yourubepowder to remove any raw yam flavors. Some of theubepowders are made using raw yams and cooking it down after it rehydrates gives theubea more concentrated flavor. This also gives you more time to properly rehydrate all theubepowder in case it didn’t finish during the first 20 minutes.
• Try not toovercook the milk inubehalayabecause the condensed and evaporated milk will begin to give thehalayaa caramelized flavor and overpower theubetaste. This is also why I cook down theubefirst before adding the milk and sweeteners.
• Add vanilla to amplify the warm, nutty notes of theubeto your jam. I found that adding this really boosted the flavor in myubehalaya.

How to store ube halaya

I like to add the cooked ube halaya in a mason glass with a tight lid and store it in the fridge for up to one week. If you want to save it for future recipes, you can also put the ube halaya in a ziplock freezer bag and freeze it up for at least one month. Just remember to defrost it on the counter or in the fridge overnight before you use it for a recipe.