State of the Plate: Ube’s Purple Reign

It’s understandable that chefs and menu developers are experiencing déjà vu all over again with the rapidly rising popularity of ube. The purple yam is native to the Philippines, where it is a staple ingredient in a range of baked goods, desserts, confections and more. Like matcha before it, its camera-ready color, pale purple in this case, and compatibility with a range of food and beverage items have fueled a social media flurry. Also in common with the treasured Japanese tea, ube’s extraordinary growth has put a severe strain on the supply chain, and the country has turned to Japan and Vietnam to shore up production.

Datassential reports that ube menu items have surged 230 percent in the past four years and predicts 74 percent growth in the next four. Early movers include Baskin-Robbins’ Ube Coconut Swirl Ice Cream, a limited-time flavor drop in spring 2022. Now, other operators are catching on and catching up.

Sweet Treats

Its slightly nutty, not-too-sweet flavor profile partners nicely with ice cream, and Van Leeuwen’s promotional Ube Coconut flavor featured an unconventional partnership with retail bakery giant King’s Hawaiian. The latter had rolled out its very first limited-time grocery offer, Ube Sweet Rolls, after product tests last year sparked a viral feeding frenzy, with shelves reportedly emptied in less than two minutes. Flash-forward a year and the subsequent collaboration resulted in a photogenic ice cream sandwich.

In the Twin Cities, James Beard–winning Diane’s Place is cooling things off with a special Summertime Pandan & Ube Soft Serve that takes advantage of the flavor and color of the aromatic pandan leaves in a picture-perfect, pale green and lavender dish.

Ube sorbet did double duty last fall at Juice It Up!, where it was used as the base for both the promotional Tropical Ube Smoothie and Tropical Ube Bowl, each of which also included pineapple and coconut.

As an ingredient in baked goods, ube is a natural, as in the elegant Ube Cheesecake with white chocolate, feuilletine crust and blueberry yogurt sorbet at Uchi Restaurants. Not surprisingly, Jollibee, the Filipino limited-serve chain that’s been expanding in the U.S., menus an Ube Pie in a snackable, grab-and-go format.

Speaking of snacks, Insomnia Cookies recently introduced a trio of caffeinated cookies that taps into the energy-and-caffeine enhancement craze with the Wildberry Ube Classic, an ube sugar cookie filled with berry jam and providing 10 milligrams of caffeine. And last year, Taco Bell’s limited-time Ube Strawberry Cookie tempted with a sugar cookie stuffed with vanilla-ube cream and strawberry pieces crowned with sprinkles.

Pretty Pancakes

Credit: Aloha Stacks

At Hawaiian-inspired breakfast concept Aloha Stacks, ube pulls double duty: Ube-Coconut Pancakes are crowned with a bright, extra creamy sauce.

Pancakes have gotten a second wind thanks to the growth of the daytime café segment, and they’ve become favored carriers for A.M. flights of fancy like Hash Kitchen’s Ube Dream Pancakes, which debuted this spring. The stack of ube buttermilk pancakes is topped with blueberry compote, ube cream and fresh blueberries.

Aloha Stacks, which offers island-style treats and a taste of Hawaii at multiple locations in California, features creamy-dreamy, deep purple Ube Coconut Pancakes and Waffles.

On a related breakfast-brunch note, New Orleans-based Ruby Slipper and Ruby Sunshine invited diners to cue the Carnival confetti earlier this year with specials like Ooh-Bae Stuffed French Toast: brioche French toast with ube cheesecake crowned with lemon curd, passionfruit popping boba and whipped cream for good measure.

Purple Reign

Credit: Starbucks

The spring lineup at Starbucks Reserve locations featured the Iced Ube Coconut Latte (left) and the Ube Espresso Martini (right), demonstrating the yam’s wide beverage range.

Ube has gained a foothold in the sizzling-hot beverage category, too. After a successful run at the Reserve locations, Starbucks moved several ube beverages to its coffeehouses. Ube Matcha was a limited-edition addition to the dedicated matcha menu, while Iced Ube Coconut Macchiato was a springtime special that was finished with ube-coconut cream cold foam. The latter remains on offer as an optional addition to any beverage at Reserve stores.

Dunkin’ released Potion Macchiato with purple marshmallow ube swirl just in time for Halloween 2024, and more recently, Peet’s Coffee stepped up with an Iced Ube Matcha Latte finished with an ube cold foam.

Ube quaffs are not limited to the nonalcoholic menu. At Abacá, a popular Filipino restaurant in San Francisco, the Ube Colada combines rum with pineapple and ube coconut cream, while the cocktail list at Starbucks Reserve promotes a seasonal favorite Ube Espresso Martini with vodka, cream and white mocha, topped with the ubiquitous ube coconut cold foam. To celebrate International Women’s Day last March, Diane’s Place created the Ladies First Cocktail, an exotic mix of tequila, apple-mango soju, orange liqueur and ube.

Outlook and Opportunity

Credit: State Fair of Texas

Ube is making inroads on state fair menus, too. Last year, the Ube Rice-Cream Crunch from Tex-Mex restaurant Barrera’s was a Big Tex Choice Awards semifinalist.

While many operators may hope to hop on the ube bandwagon, short supply could short-circuit their plans.

For those who have no such restrictions, watch for more creative layering of flavors and unexpected beverage mash-ups. A great example is Te’Amo, a bubble tea and dessert café expanding out of Chicago’s Chinatown. New menu items include Ube Dalgona Matcha and Ube Dalgona Coffee, which address the boomlet in sugary Korean drinks. Both come with boba.

And it’s worth keeping an eye on a couple of leading indicators that have become de facto entry points for new foods and flavors. The first is state fair foods. Known for its envelope-pushing offerings, the Texas State Fair last year named Barrera’s Ube Rice-Cream Crunch a Big Tex Choice Awards semifinalist. The dessert featured sweet ube topped with crispy puffed rice made using the South Asian muri puffing technique (in which kernels are cooked in hot sand or salt) and finished with Cool Whip and a maraschino cherry.

Meanwhile, cutting-edge grocer Trader Joe’s has featured ube ice cream, cookies, ube-coated pretzels and an ube mochi pancake mix that has reportedly been a smash hit and returns for a limited time each year since its debut in 2020.