Samalamig, also known as palamig, is a collective term for various

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

sweet chilled beverages that usually include jelly-like ingredients. They come in various flavors, and are commonly sold by street vendors as refreshments. Typical ingredients of the drinks include ''

gulaman ''Gulaman'', in Filipino cuisine, is a bar, or powdered form, of dried agar or carrageenan used to make jelly-like desserts. In common usage, it also usually refers to the refreshment ''sago't gulaman'', sometimes referred to as ''samalamig' ...

'' (agar),

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

pearls,

kaong ''Arenga pinnata'' (syn. ''Arenga saccharifera'') is an economically important Arecaceae, feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, aren ...

, tapioca pearls,

nata de coco ''Nata de coco'', also marketed as coconut gel, is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by '' Komagataeibacter xylinus''. Originating ...

, and coconut (including

macapuno Macapuno or coconut sport is a naturally occurring coconut cultivar which has an abnormal development of the endosperm. The result of this abnormal development is a soft translucent jelly-like flesh that fills almost the entire central cavity o ...

). They are usually anglicized as pearl coolers or pearl and jelly coolers. Samalamig may also include various chilled fruit juices (usually with chunks of fruit), chocolate, and coffee drinks, regardless if jellies are added, that are also typically sold by samalamig vendors.

Name

The name "samálamig" comes from ''sa'', meaning "for; to; at", and ''malamíg'', an adjective meaning "cold, chilly" in Tagalog. "Sa malamig" may thus loosely mean "for cold (drinks); at a cold place; chilled". "Sa malamig" might have come from the calls of ambulant vendors, telling people to come and get cold drinks, i.e. "

ito Ito may refer to: Places * Ito Island, an island of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea * Ito Airport, an airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Ito District, Wakayama, a district located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Itō, Shizuo ...

sa malamig", loosely "here for cold drinks". Thus, "sa malamig" could be taken as a qualifier for the various types of drinks stored in cold containers, i.e. buko juice is "buko sa malamig" and sago't gulaman is "sago't gulaman sa malamig", but these full phrases are no longer in habitual use. An alternate name is ''palamig'' which means "cooler" or "chiller".

Description

Samalamig does not refer to a specific drink, but to a class of drinks that are served cold by street vendors. Thus they can come in a wide variety of flavors and types. They are traditionally sold by street vendors during summer months, but are now also offered by restaurants. The restaurant versions typically top the drinks with shaved ice.

Types

Buko pandan at Cafe Laguna, SM City, Cebu

Guinomis (Ilonggo Sago Gulaman) at Imay's

The main types of samalamig are listed below. The recipes however can be combined at the discretion of the maker. There are no set recipes for samalamig. The only common theme is that they are served cold with ice cubes or shaved ice. They also usually include jelly-like ingredients or pieces of fruit.

Buko juice

Buko juice is simple chilled

coconut water Coconut water (also coconut juice) is the clear liquid inside coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As growth conti ...

, typically served with strips of coconut meat. It may or may not be sweetened. Some versions also add milk.

Buko pandan drink

Buko pandan refers to a very common flavor combination of coconut and

pandan leaves ''Pandanus amaryllifolius'' is a tropical plant in the ''Pandanus'' (screwpine) genus, which is commonly known as pandan (; ). It has fragrant leaves which are used widely for flavouring in the cuisines of Southeast Asia and South Asia. Occurre ...

in Filipino cuisine. When used alone, buko pandan typically refers to a type of dessert made with strips of coconut, pandan leaves, and various jellies in coconut milk. The drink version is the same, but is less thick and has more liquid. Like the dessert, the drink is characteristically light green in color from the pandan leaves, and the jellies used are usually dyed green.

Calamansi juice

Calamansi juice, also known as "Filipino lemonade", is the Filipino version of

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using ...

, made from the juice of fresh-squeezed

calamansi Calamansi (''Citrus'' × ''microcarpa''), also known as calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, is an economically important citrus hybrid predominantly cultivated in the Philippines. It is native to the Philippines, Borneo, Sumatra, ...

sweetened with sugar or honey and chilled. It can also serve as a base for other types of samalamig if other fruits are added. Aside from its use in samalamig, calamansi juice by itself is a common drink in Filipino households. Unsweetened hot versions are a common home remedy for sore throat or colds. It can also be added to '' salabat'' (Filipino ginger tea).

Fruit salad drink

The fruit salad drink, also known as the "buko salad drink", is identical to the Filipino

fruit salad Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of fruit, sometimes served in a liquid, either their juices or a syrup. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an appetizer or a side salad. When served as an appetizer, a fruit sala ...

, which is prepared with chunks of fruits, jellies, and coconut strips in condensed milk. The only difference is that the drink has more water and condensed milk added.

Guinomis

Guinomis is sometimes regarded as a variant of

halo-halo Halo-halo, correctly spelled ''haluhalo'', Tagalog for "mixed" (the more common spelling instead literally equating to "mix-mix") is a popular cold dessert in the Philippines made up of crushed ice, evaporated milk or coconut milk, and vari ...

since it is a shaved ice dessert. It is made with

pearls,

pinipig ''Pinipig'' is a flattened rice ingredient from the Philippines. It is made of immature grains of glutinous rice pounded until flat before being toasted. It is commonly used as toppings for various desserts in Filipino cuisine, but can also be ...

(toasted pounded rice), various jellies, and coconut milk on shaved ice. Like the halo-halo, it can have multiple variations. It originates from the

Hiligaynon people The Hiligaynon people (''mga Hiligaynon''), often referred to as Ilonggo people (''mga Ilonggo'') or Panayan people (''mga Panayanon''), are a Visayan ethnic group whose primary language is Hiligaynon, an Austronesian language of the Visayan ...

Melon sa malamig

Melon sa malamig, sometimes called "melon chiller", "melon cooler", or simply "melon juice" is, at its most basic, pieces of

cantaloupe The cantaloupe, rockmelon (Australia and New Zealand, although cantaloupe is used in some states of Australia), sweet melon, or spanspek (Southern Africa) is a melon that is a variety of the muskmelon species (''Cucumis melo'') from the fami ...

s mixed with sugar and water. Some recipes also add calamansi juice or

evaporated Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humi ...

or condensed milk. However, if it is made with milk, it must be consumed immediately, as

proteolytic enzyme A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the for ...

s in the cantaloupe will break down the milk proteins and turn the drink bitter if left to stand.

Sago at gulaman

Sago at gulaman, commonly shortened to "sago't gulaman" or simply "gulaman", is the most common type of samalamig. The name means "sago and

", referring to the main ingredients of the drink,

pearls and

jellies ( agar). The drink is usually simply flavored with

muscovado Muscovado is a type of partially refined to unrefined sugar with a strong molasses content and flavour, and dark brown in colour. It is technically considered either a non-centrifugal cane sugar or a centrifuged, partially refined sugar accordi ...

(or

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

), and

. The pandan can also be substituted with

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

or banana extract. Sago is also commonly substituted with tapioca pearls.

Sweet corn samalamig

Sweet corn samalamig is similar to maíz con hielo, but does not include shaved ice. It is made from sweet corn kernels in milk with jellies.