Ever since I started on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), I’ve been exploring cuisines of various cultures and Filipino cuisine has been fascinating me lately. After figuring out how to make grain-free Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls), I decided to explore related foods and learned about Ginataang Bilo-bilo. It’s a sweet coconut milk-based soup with a variety of ingredients such as sweet potatoes or yams, tapioca pearls, glutinous rice balls (bilo-bilo) and tropical fruit (such as plantains, bananas or jackfruit). It reminds me of a popular sweet soup in Singapore, known as bubur cha cha, which features similar ingredients except that there are no fruits or glutinous rice balls in it and multi-coloured chewy tapioca ‘jelly’ cubes take the place of tapioca pearls. Which reminds me, I ought to post a recipe for bubur cha cha soon. My son loves to eat it and listen to cha cha music at the same time, for the fun of it!
Ginataang bilo-bilo is pretty rich and filling, so it makes a nice AIP-friendly breakfast if you’re okay with starches or coconut milk. I used to feel uncomfortable after consuming coconut for breakfast at the beginning of my AIP journey, but now it doesn’t bother me (hurray!). Since coconut and fruit such as plantains are pretty ‘cooling’ or ‘yin’ in nature according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), I decided to balance it with the addition of ‘yang’ or ‘warming’ foods such as ginger and cinnamon. I also added pandan leaves as they are commonly used in sweet soups for added fragrance, but these 3 ingredients are not traditionally found in Ginataang bilo-bilo so feel free to omit if preferred. The sweet soup is also great as a teatime snack and can be served hot or cold. Just take note that it will thicken up slightly upon cooling, though you could thin it slightly with a bit of water before serving. I personally don’t mind it thick as it reminds me of tapioca pudding.
In order to serve it for breakfast, I would prepare the bilo-bilo, cut the sweet potato into chunks and soak the tapioca pearls the night before, and simply slice the plantains and cook the soup in the morning. By soaking the tapioca pearls for a couple of hours or overnight, it makes them cook really quickly and yet keep their form without melting. As for the choice of sweet potatoes, you can go with pretty much any colour, really. In the photo, I used yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes to make the bilo-bilo and purple sweet potato chunks in the soup, hence the pretty colour. Yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes can be rather fibrous so swap with orange sweet potatoes (yams) if you prefer very smooth textured bilo-bilo. If you have access to fresh jackfruit, feel free to add some in the soup! In Singapore, my grandmother has a jackfruit tree in her backyard so we would get fresh jackfruit from time to time. Unfortunately I have yet to find jackfruit in Quebec, so I left it out. I try to eat local and in season here in Canada, but this is one Asian comfort food that can be pretty easily made with inexpensive ingredients available in a Western supermarket even during winter. Hope you’ll give it a try and enjoy it!
- FOR THE BILO BILO
- ½ cup mashed sweet potato (from one 4 inch by 1 inch sweet potato)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- ½ cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
- 2 - 4 tbsp hot water
- FOR THE SOUP
- ½ cup small tapioca pearls, soaked in 1 cup water
- 1 6 inch sweet potato, peeled and cut into slices or large chunks
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 pandan/ screwpine leaves, trimmed and knotted (optional)
- 2 ripe plantains (or just-ripe bananas), peeled and sliced
- 1 can or 400ml coconut milk
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and smashed (optional)
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey (or to taste)
- MAKING THE BILO-BILO
- Combine the mashed sweet potato, maple syrup or honey and starch together
- Stir in the hot water tablespoon by tablespoon until a dough is formed
- Knead until smooth, the texture should be as soft as your earlobe
- Pinch some dough with your fingers and roll between the palms to form ½ inch or 1cm balls and set aside (Can be frozen on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper if making in advance)
- MAKING THE SOUP
- In a saucepan, bring about 2 cups of water to boil
- Add the bilo-bilo and cook until they float, about 5 minutes
- Remove and set aside in a bowl of cool water to prevent the bilo-bilo from sticking together
- Add the soaked tapioca pearls into the same saucepan of hot water and cook, stirring frequently, until the pearls are translucent, about 5 minutes
- Drain, rinse in cool water and set aside in a bowl of cool water to prevent the tapioca pearls from clumping together
- Fill a large saucepan with 2 cups water and bring to boil
- Add the sweet potato chunks and cook for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften, then drain and set aside
- (Alternative, steam the sweet potato chunks in a steamer for the same amount of time)
- Refill the saucepan with 1.5 cups water and bring to boil, then add the knotted pandan leaves and plantains, cooking for about 5 minutes
- Stir in the coconut milk, sweet potato chunks, ginger and cinnamon powder
- Drain the bilo-bilo and tapioca pearls before adding into the saucepan
- Bring to a simmer, add maple syrup or honey to taste
- Remove from heat and discard pandan leaves and ginger
- Serve warm or chilled