Ice, Ice Baby

The L.A. Times food section discovers icy desserts from tropical climes, including Singapore's ice kacang (a bowl of syrup-drenched ice piled over sweetened beans), the Korean bingsu (made with fruit and sweet red beans) and the Mexican raspado.

Then, of course, straight from the Philippines, there's halo-halo -- a mix of shaved ice, fruits, beans, coconut, leche flan (custard) and ube ice cream. Mmm. Maria and I had quite a bit while in the P.I. earlier this year, and particularly loved the version at Razon's, a small mom-and-pop place in San Fernando, in the province of Pampanga.

But for sheer size, the halo-halo at Chow King, a nationwide Chinese fast-food joint, couldn't be beat -- huge and piled high with ube ice cream. Yum. Lucky for us, there's a Chow King location right here in the Valley -- Panorama City, to be exact. The L.A. Times, meanwhile, votes for the halo-halo at Barrio Fiesta (another Philippines chain with stores here in L.A., including in Glendale).