Dulce de Leche in the Philippines

This blog entry is for the sole purpose of comparing the Dulce de Leche made by using different brands of condensed milk that are available in the Philippines.

What is Dulce de Leche?  (pronounced "DOOL-se de LE-che," meaning candy of milk or milk jelly in Spanish) According to Wikipedia, dulce de leche is a South American confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a substance that derives its taste from the Maillard reaction, changing flavor and color. Dulce de leche is also popular in the only Hispanic country in Asia, the Philippines, where it is usually paired with cakes or breakfast rolls. As in other places, it has also found its way into other desserts such as cakes and ice cream.

So how do we make Dulce de Leche here in the Philippines? We boil a can (or several cans if you want a lot of it) of condensed milk for a good 2-3 hours in the uling (coal) or kahoy (wood). Either way, it saves gas (LPG is so spendy, it's around 1k php as of this writing). 

Honestly, I joined a Facebook cooking group just to know how to do it. Dulce de Leche has been a trend in the online buy and sell community these past few weeks. Sellers might be offended if you ask them how. You know what business is.

We started of by testing a can of Liberty Condensada performed by Ioj Smith Wayne on stovetop.

And we waited.

and we waited again...

And the result is -

Liberty is down. I mean Liberty Condensada is down. Tastes like caramel though. Consistency is liquidy but it's perfect for making Graham balls and of course the all time favorite palaman sa pan de sal! 

Next up...

Experimentation made by my new friend Mar Chia Lyn gave out surprising results.

Sorry brother, I have to blur you, baka kasi pagpyestahan ka hehehe

And after 4 hours...

Close up look :

More closer look (with spoon) :

This is the real deal. Alaska Condensed Filled Milk. Consistency is perfect. Not runny. It has a peanut buttery like look and with a consistency like a Jell-O. 

But wait! Isn't there a "blue label" Alaska? Let's also test it out... Experimentation courtesy of Dwight Testa.

Ready for testing, on the left side is Alaska White Label (Alaska Condensed Filled Milk) and on the right side is Alaska Blue Label (Alaska Condensada Sweetened Creamer)

End results: 

♫ (Insert Alaska melody here) Wala paring tatalo sa Alaska! ♫

So how about Milkmaid? They say it's from pure cow's milk. As you know, pastilles/pastilyas are made from cow's milk (and it tastes so milkyyyyy trust meeee este moooo!) 

The dulce of Milkmaid has a milky taste. You know, the old school pastille making where they scald the fresh cow's mild down and add I don't know what other things until it achieves that doughy consistency. It needs to be simmered longer though.

- more updates soon

I'm open for contributions on information with other brands of condensed milk/condensada that are available in the Philippines. :)

sources: 
Lutong Pinoy Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253192884729718

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche

http://www.bakersroyale.com/basic-baking-series/baking-basics-how-to-make-homemade-dulce-de-leche/