Filipino Fruit Cocktail Salad

 

why so foamy?

I make Filipino fruit salad at least once a month. My wife calls it "diabeetus salad." I hesitated sharing it because it's not really cooking - it's more just opening jars and cans and dumping them into a vessel. And it's hella trashy, not healthful AT ALL, and one of those Filipino dishes that you are almost embarrassed to admit you eat because it's a little weird. But, lemme tell you, if you give it a chance, you may end up craving it like I do.

It's very reminiscent of halo-halo because of the sweet dairy factor and it can be made with fresh fruit. I've had a version with chopped apples, banana slices, and mandarin orange segments. It's more commonly made with canned and jarred items, though, because the Philippines is a hot country and canned/jarred items are less likely to spoil in storage. I prefer the canned version because you can put whatever stuff your heart desires in it and in whatever quantity you want. Go nuts.

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz can table cream (This is canned cream and can be difficult to find in Western grocery stores but check the Mexican/Hispanic aisles. You can substitute a jar of clotted cream.)

15 oz can mixed fruit cocktail in heavy syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

(The next ingredients can best be found in ethnic supermarkets and can be subbed out, as desired. Use canned lychee. Use palm fruit. Use canned diced peaches. You can even add more fruit cocktail. Use whatever as long as it's in heavy or light syrup. P.S. for anyone obsessed with boba - you can also use boba.)

15 oz can diced mango

15 oz can coconut gel with jackfruit

1 jar of macapuno in syrup (Macapuno is strings of young coconut meat.)

1 jar coconut gel in syrup (Also known as nata de coco. This recipe sounds very coconut-forward, but coconut gel really doesn't taste like coconut to me, and I love its weird-ass texture, so I use a lot of it.)

Drain all the fruit/jelly cans and jars. Pour them into a bowl. Mix in the condensed milk, table cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Refrigerate overnight. Eat with impunity. And, in true Filipino fashion, store it in a leftover Country Crock tub, unlabeled, so you can surprise anyone looking for margarine.