Ube Champorado

Ube, or as the world has gotten to know it, “oob.”

I want to preface this by saying this blog post will be a little raw and emotional.

For Jasper and Tita Veronica

The main reason I made Ube Champorado was for Jasper and Tita Veronica.

Jasper is one of my best friends here in Melbourne and one of the founders of Dishes & Dialogue. I call him a wizard because of what he can do. Graphic design, video, photography, ideas, all of it. But beyond the work, he is someone who can empathise while still being logical, which is rare.

Tita Veronica is Jasper’s mum. She had a love for anything ube, so we decided to make this episode about that.

This past year, she underwent treatment for the “Big C”. During the shoot, she was in palliative care. By the time we released this episode, she had passed away.

May her soul rest in peace.

There are some things in life that feel too close to home, even when it is happening to someone else. This was one of those moments.

I think the core of this dish is care. Love. Empathy. The kind we give to friends, family, and sometimes even strangers.

Ube is not taro

This episode also gave us a chance to talk about ube properly. Ube is a purple yam deeply rooted in Filipino food culture. It is not taro, even though people often confuse the two.

I used to be one of those people.

For the longest time, I thought ube and taro were basically the same thing. They’re not. Ube is closer to sweet potato in texture and feeling, but still very much its own thing.

As always, we made time to visit our partner, Fitzroy Finest Foods, to pick up fresh produce for the episode.

Because I couldn’t get frozen ube, and I didn’t want to use taro as a substitute, we made what I would call a fake ube halaya using sweet potato, ube extract, and a few other ingredients you’ll see in the episode.

There is no ube in this ube

Fhred turns sweet potato into a playful ube halaya stand-in and makes the case for adapting with care.

Watch the full Dishes & Dialogue episode on our channel.

A little bit of chaos

Somewhere in between all of this, I also ended up teaching Liem how to do a body roll.

For some reason, this season started with us singing 90s and early 2000s songs and having a bit of a boogie. It felt chaotic, but also right.

The goal was to make a pretty version of Champorado. Not because we wanted to sell it, but because I wanted to make it look beautiful for Tita.

I wanted to show her another version of ube and to honour her. Something warm, colourful, and full of care.

As I write this, I keep thinking about how important it is to be kinder to the people we meet. Everyone carries something we may never see.

All we can really do is be mindful.

And be kind.

Like this Ube Champorado, made for breakfast, dessert, comfort, or for someone you love.

A dish that says, someone cares enough to make this for you, especially the halaya.