It is really awesome to read about Asian Australians getting into the food business and making it into a labour of love/passion – and that is what Sydney implants, chefs Kim and Andro are doing with their trailer food business Mix Mix Co, which sells the famous Filipino dessert “Halo Halo”. “Halo Halo” is a dessert made of crushed ice, milk and various ingredients such as flan, ube, sweetened beans, jelly and jackfruit.
Both Kim and Andro work full time and are raising a family in addition to running their trailer food business. Andro is a savoury chef by trade and Kim is an award winning culinary student. Here are some the things Kim and Andro said in their interview with SBS Filipino:
“It took us more than a year when it came to planning the business. We had to take a lot of things into consideration, [like finances and supporting our kids],” Andro admits, adding, “We still work full-time. Kim is a pastry chef and I still work as a sous chef.” (Andro).
“For us Filipinos, halo-halo is the queen of all Filipino desserts; and we know how hot Australian summers can get,” Kim shares, adding, “Aside from halo-halo, we’ve also modernised iced desserts such as buko pandan (coconut milk, coconut shreds, pandan leaves and sago pearls). And because we’ve made our trailer and products colourful, people go ‘wow!’ We are part of Parramatta Lanes and our ube taho (silken tofu with pearls and syrup) and buko pandan are always sold out – can you believe that?” (Andro).
“Australia is very diverse when it comes to people and culture. People here are very open-minded and even if Filipino food may be new to them, they’re willing to try it,” Kim says, adding, “While boba is a food trend everywhere, it’s also something we have in our own cuisine. We wanted to stick to our roots and do a Filipino rendition of boba.” (Kim).
This will definitely be something I will go try when I am next back in Sydney – the Filipino food movement is growing in Australia and that is an awesome thing – can’t wait to follow Kim and Andro’s journey and interview them!
Images via SBS News
To read the original article, please click on: But first, dessert: Couple introduces Filipino food to Australia through halo-halo