Ube Halaya (Purple Yam Jam) Recipe

Cooking grated ube slowly with coconut milk and condensed milk is the traditional way Filipino cooks turn the root into a spreadable jam, and it happens to be the clearest way to taste ube on its own: mildly sweet, faintly nutty, with a soft vanilla-like undertone rather than anything grape-flavored or fruity. Long, slow stirring over low heat evaporates excess moisture and concentrates that natural flavor instead of masking it with add-ins.

Prep

20 min

Cook

45 min

Total

185 min

Servings

8

Ingredients

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Instructions

1. 1If using frozen grated ube, thaw completely and squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible with a clean kitchen towel.
2. 2In a large heavy-bottomed pot or wok, combine the grated ube, coconut milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Stir until evenly combined.
3. 3Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer and starts to thicken, about 10-15 minutes.
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4. 4Add the butter in two additions, stirring each portion in fully before adding the next.
5. 5Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot, until the mixture pulls away from the sides and is thick enough to hold a mounded shape on a spoon, 25-35 minutes total cook time.
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6. 6Stir in the vanilla extract and salt and cook 2 more minutes.
7. 7Spread the mixture into a greased shallow dish, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon, and brush lightly with melted butter.
8. 8Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate uncovered until fully set, at least 2 hours.

Tips & variations

• Fresh ube gives a deeper purple color and firmer texture than the frozen grated kind, but frozen ube (often sold as 'grated purple yam') is far more consistent and widely available outside the Philippines.
• Ube halaya is sweet, mild, and slightly nutty on its own, closer to a cross between vanilla and roasted chestnut than anything grape-like, since the purple color and flavor are unrelated.
• Use the finished jam as a filling for ube cheesecake or ube crinkle cookies, or fold a spoonful into softened vanilla ice cream for a quick ube ice cream.
• Bottled ube flavoring or extract tastes noticeably more artificial and vanilla-forward than real ube; if a recipe tastes like bubblegum, it's the extract, not the yam.

Storage & reheating

Store ube halaya covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before using. To loosen leftover jam for spreading, warm gently in a saucepan with a splash of milk, stirring until smooth.

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