Ube is a purple yam, a root crop that grows mostly everywhere in the Philippines. The most popular way of cooking ube is to make it into halaya hence called Ube Halaya. Violet yam (Ube), boiled and grated, mixed with coconut milk and Sugar, and cooked until thick. The taste and texture is really neat - it comes across as a heavy ice cream, custard type pudding. It is a sweet sticky jam-like concoction that may be eaten by itself or as an ingredient in other deserts like halo-halo.