Pandesal or pan de sal is the famous traditional bread from the Philippines.
There aren’t a lot of shops that are able to attract passers-by as much as bakeries, strictly based on the wonderful smell emanating from them. An irresistible, almost magical perfume that owes this irresistible attraction to science.
Bread is probably one of the simplest foods to prepare with simple rules to observe. A basic bread contains only 4 ingredients: water, flour, yeast and salt.
These ingredients are mixed, with a gradual incorporation of water to the flour so as to obtain an elastic and homogeneous dough.
Behind simple movements such as hands kneading and the pouring of clear water, hides the first secret of bread: flour. Flour contains two proteins in large quantities: glutenin and gliadin, which, together, produce the famous gluten. A good flour must contain at least 7% gluten but more is even better!
Pandesal is to the Philippines what baguette is to France or focaccia is to Italy.
Pandesal or pan de sal literally means “bread of salt”. It is the most common Filipino bread. Filipinos also call pandesal, agahan, almusal (breakfast food) or pandes.
History of pandesal (pan de sal)
Pandesal was introduced to the Philippines in the sixteenth century during the colonization Spanish colonization, and it is even said that it would have earlier Portuguese origins.
In the sixteenth century, it was also called “the bread of the poor” because it was an alternative to rice during the Philippines revolution.
According to the story, pandesal was originally to be modeled on French bread, the ancestor of French baguette, made from wheat flour, baker’s yeast, sugar, water and salt.
But since the Filipinos were not a large producer of flour, they tried using their local flour, which, in turn, changed the texture from the crust of the original French bread, thus becoming the softer dough of pandesal.
The majority of Filipinos can not spend a day without eating pandesal. As soon as the sun rises, it can be found everywhere in the country and at any time of the day.
People eat pandesal in different ways, but one of the most favorite ways is to immerse it in a hot coffee at breakfast. As Filipinos say:
Walang matigas na Pandesal sa mainit na kape
Which means “no pandesal without hot coffee”. People will also make tartines with butter and jam, peanut butter or even with sardines.
Pandesal is often compared to Mexican bolillo. Pandesal is actually far more airy than bolillo, with a finer and lighter crust and this, despite all the crumbs with which it is coated before being baked.
How to make pandesal (pan de sal)
To make perfect bread with this Filipino pandesal recipe, first manage the use of salt to adjust the rise of the bread: the more salt you add, the more compact and less light the Filipino pandesal will be. A teaspoon for 4 cups of flour is just what it takes.
For the best pandesal recipe, you have to have an eye on the relationship between flour and water, and use a flour with a high gluten content. For example, 4 cups of flour for about 1¼ cup of water to obtain the best bread.
Pandesal (Filipino Bread Roll)
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 5 tablespoons butter , melted
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1¼ cup milk (warm)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the yeast, half the sugar and milk and stir gently until the yeast and sugar are completely dissolved.
- In another bowl, combine egg, oil and melted butter.
- Add the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer starting with the flour, remaining sugar and baking powder. Mix well.
- Add the mixture of egg, butter and oil and add the mixture of yeast, milk and sugar and mix gently, for several minutes, until obtaining a homogeneous dough. Add the salt and knead again for 5 minutes.
- Form a ball by working the dough on a flat surface. Then place it in a large salad bowl covered with a damp cloth and let it rise for an hour in a warm place away from drafts.
- Place the dough on a work surface and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece until to form a cylindrical shape.
- Cut 3 or 4 rolls diagonally into each cylinder. Roll each bread in the breadcrumbs and place on a sheet covered with parchment paper, allowing some space between them. Cover with a dry cloth and let the dough rise again for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 F / 190˚C for 15 minutes. Bake the breads for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot or warm.
Vera is the “expert” of the 196 flavors’ duo. With over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, she is now sharing her skills as a private chef and cooking instructor.
I love the pan de sal recipe, i just baked some…it’s so easy to do and it’s so yummy! thank you
Glad you loved it Ardee 😉
I will try to cook this reciepe if i will make perfect i tried many times but not as the same taste in pilipino pandesal.
All Purpose or Bread flour?
Hey Evelina, bread flour is always better for this type of recipe, but you can also go with all purpose flour.
I use 75% All Purpose Flour and 25% Bread Flour and the resulting Pandesal is more soft and can last for a week at room temp and 2wks refrigerated and when re heated it is still soft
As good as pandesal from street vendors in Manila 🙂
Why is there baking powder when there’s already yeast?
Hey Celia, adding both baking powder and yeast brings makes the bread more airy. This technique is often used by bakers.
I tried to make my dough rise but I didn’t see any result? I was kinda worried. But I know my active dry yeast is active because it bubbles.
Hey Francesca, it happens to be sometimes too. I used to buy active dry yeast in jars and keep it in the fridge. They say you can keep it up to 6 months, but to be honest, it was less and less active. I now prefer to buy individual packets. And they really make the dough rise. Not sure if that was the case with you but that was my experience.
Can I just use the bread dough from the store and twick it with some ingredients? I believe it has yeast in it so less work for me
Why not Lorelie, depending on the bread dough, you may have to tweak more or less. Good luck!
“Walang matigas na tinapay sa maiinit na kape” – no hard bread is ever a match for hot coffee, or hot coffee can soften any hard bread.
It just means that, no matter how strong you are, you are weak or vulnerable against something else that you might not expect. It gives the idea that you may seem tough in ordinary circumstances but when placed out of your natural element, you dissolve easily.
Or, even a toothless old woman can eat the hardest bread when it is soggy and softened by hot coffee — this indicates that there is a smart or clever way to solve the most difficult problem.
Thanks so much for the explanation!
I’m yet to try this but if pandesal was meant to be a simple bread why milk and egg? Is it possible to make it without these ingredients? I don’t want my pandesal to be eggy or milky.
Hey Celeste, there is no reason for the bread to be milky or eggy simply because there is milk or egg in the recipe… and also, there is sugar but it is not sweet Enjoy!
My family loved it. Has anyone tried to make the dough and bake a batch at a time? Would the dough last in the fridge? I baked the entire batch and they were wonderful first out of the oven. What do you all think?
Hello Christine
No I would not store the dough in the fridge.
But this bread stores very well in the freezer and you have to reheat it in a low temperature oven.
Enjoy 🙂
Hi. Was wondering how many calories this is per piece?
“Walang matigas na pandesal sa mainit na kape!”
This actually means
No hard(overnight) pandesal if there is a hot coffee. ( Coffee softens up the hard pandesal
It does mean another thing.
There is no Hard headed person when there is a strict leader…
It may also say something for yourself…
“Hard obstacles are nothing if you have a passion for something”
They also use it for husband and wives 😛 like
No Angsty husband if the wife is dominant or something like that…
Anyways, that’s too far from the bread but Filipinos’ culture, tradition and passion is like pandesal in the morning,
Irresistible, sweet, savory and loved 😀
When was this article written?
Hey Hanna! We worked on this article during 2019, we we worked on recipes from the Philippines.
This was the first recipe I have ever seen Baking powder being utilized. However is that sticking to the traditional recipe??
I loved your recipe, soft and keep it in my counter for a week.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Cesar!
We’re glad to hear you liked it Cesar! Enjoy!