Pandesal : A Labor of Love

Mabuhay, mga kababayan! (If you don’t know Tagalog, feel free to google translate this or read until the end, it’ll make more sense)

Who doesn’t love the feeling of smelling bread freshly cooked from the oven, the aroma spreading throughout the entire house? With the amount of effort and time it takes to make it, calling it anything but a labor of love would severely be understating this wonderful bread. This filipino bread is a staple in every filipino household, including mine. Pandesal is a sweet bread that looks very similar to many bread rolls. It is typically covered in breadcrumbs and when you take a bite, breadcrumbs fall in every direction and you get this soft, heartwarming feeling inside of you. I may be biased, but my family makes the best pandesal, and makes different versions of it too, like coconut and ube.

Although this dish originated from a time where the Philippines were under colonization, it is so much more that. Pandesal was introduced while Filipinos were under Spanish colonial rule, which is very apparent in the bread’s name. “Pan” is Spanish for bread and “sal” is spanish for salt. So technically, the translation for Pandesal is salt bread. I’ve always found this funny, as pandesal is actually really sweet! However, it may have been different back then, especially in the 16th century. I like to think of this unique history of pandesal as another example of how optimistic Filipinos can be, using ingredients given by their colonizers (wheat and flour) and making something truly life-changing with it. Turning the bad into the good. Just like my ancestors before me, I wish to do good in the world, and I hope I can at least achieve that even a little by sharing this astounding and truly unforgettable piece of bread. My “labor of love”, in a way.

Pandesal has been the one constant of my life. It would be weird to say that I have some weird dependency on it, but I honestly do! When I started high school, it was hard, and my stomach became quite sensitive due to my anxiety. The only thing it could tolerate in the mornings was pandesal. I can’t live without it. My mom and I bonded over making this dish, because what’s better than making bread and gossiping in the late afternoon?

Don’t think of this bread as just breakfast food, because that would be offensive to many Filipinos, like you just cursed them out. I’m joking, of course (I’m not, beware). You can have pandesal for desert, for lunch, and even for dinner. There are so many things you can stuff it with, from ice cream, to traditional spreads (like nutella), pancit canton (filipino noodles), tuna, chicken, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Trust is very important to me, so I want to be honest with you all. I don’t make this bread all the time, as life gets busy, and I know many of you can relate. Sometimes, I go to my local Filipino store and buy some pandesal, which I know are still made with love, I promise! Some Filipinos may even go on to say that pandesal is their first love, which is quite possible. If you didn’t think love at first sight was possible, think again. Pandesal will have you in your feels with every bite.

What you’ll need :

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 cups milk (whole or 2%) – 1 minute in Microwave
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup melted margarine
• 1 tsp iodized salt
• 2 eggs (slightly beaten)
• 1 egg yolk (slightly beaten)
• 1 pack Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Instant Yeast plain breadcrumbs

1. Mix all ingredients for 15 minutes or until dough is smooth. Use dough mixer or better results.
2. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cloth (tea cloth is best to use)
3. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
4. Divide dough into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Put breadcrumbs first at the bottom of each ball so it will not stop the second rising of the dough. Place in a baking pan.
5. Cover with a tea cloth and let rise for 1 hour or 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in size.
6. Put breadcrumbs on top of each dough ball carefully.
7. Bake in 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy your pandesal! You are now a honorary filipino, a kababayan (even if you haven’t made it yet)!