Traditional Hot Chocolate Recipe Using Tablea
March 22, 2022
It may probably come as no surprise that I love chocolates… in every form. However, hot chocolate has always had a special spot in my chocolate lover heart. I especially fall for that extra thick and rich hot chocolate! And so I wondered, why not just make my own?
When the Philippines developed its love affair with chocolates, Filipinos adopted the Spanish way of consuming chocolates, which is in the form of a drink. They made this by mixing water and tablea.
What is Tablea?
Tablea is 100% pure cacao nibs that have been ground to form small balls. These are made by grinding peeled cacao seeds using stones until a paste is formed, and then forming them into small balls. To consume them, just add one of the balls into boiling water and stir. Through this, the traditional way of making hot chocolate was born, which was called sikwate.
Nowadays, chocolate consumption in the Philippines has evolved in so many ways that even the name “sikwate” has changed to “tsokolate” (pronounced cho-ko-la-teh) which is the Filipino word for chocolate.
Most of the cacao plantations in the Philippines are located in the provinces. In fact, my grandmother, Marilou Rase (Hi Grandma!), recently invested in cacao production. Today, I am going to share with you her tsokolate recipe.
Harvesting Cacao
Cacao pods are harvested from their own cacao farm – the Rase Farm, which is located in Romblon Province here in the Philippines. During harvest, they pick ripe cacao pods (usually in yellow or red colors) then open them within 4 days. After this, the beans will be taken out of the pods for fermentation.
Fermentation takes about 6 to 10 days, until the beans turn a shade of red. After fermentation, the beans will be spread out under the sun to dry. This process usually takes 5 to 10 days.
When the beans are already dried, they will be roasted to make the shell easier to peel. And then they will peel the beans to take out the cocoa nibs.
The nibs will then be ground until it forms a chocolate paste, and then poured into molders (with no added sugar or spices) to form the tablea. Finally, the tablea is now ready to be used for different recipes!
Here is my grandmother’s quick and simple tsokolate drink recipe:
Hot Tablea Tsokolate
What to do: Pour the coconut milk into a pot. Bring to a boil. Add the tablea over a light to medium heat, stir occasionally until dissolved. To get that smoother drink, continue stirring for at least 30 minutes to keep the bits from getting stuck to the bottom of the pot. Pour tsokolate into your favorite mug and enjoy! |
I know! It’s that easy! The traditional way is meant to be consumed using just pure tablea and milk, or even just water to some.
But, wait! There’s more!
Did you know that traditional tsokolate is usually served in silver pots and is mixed using a batirol? A batirol is a wooden tool used to mix tsokolate when serving, since bits of the tablea is possible to sink to the bottom of the pot.
To mix using a batirol, you should hold the handle in between your palms and then rub your palms together to make the batirol swirl. This will mix the tablea and will also create a light froth.
Here is my grandmother’s recipe using batirol or what Filipinos call Tsokolate de Batirol:
Tsokolate de Batirol
What to do: Pour the evaporated/coconut milk and water into a pot. Bring to a boil. Add the Dutch cocoa powder and sugar and stir occasionally until dissolved. Add the tablea over a light to medium heat, continue stirring until the tablea has melted. To get that smoother drink, continue stirring for at least 30 minutes to keep the bits from getting stuck to the bottom of the pot. Pour tsokolate into your favorite mug and enjoy! |
Aside from making your own hot chocolate, you can also use tablea in all desserts that typically use chocolate like brownies and cakes. Another popular recipe in the Philippines is chocolate rice porridge, or what we call “champorado”.
What are you waiting for? See if any of your Asian grocery stores sell tablea and create your own tsokolate! Share yours on social media and tag me on Facebook and Twitter so I can check them out!
If you want to buy straight from my grandmother’s farm or would like to see more of their products, drop them a message on their Facebook page.
What recipe do you want to learn next? Comment down below and let’s learn together!
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