An Ode To Pandesal
Pandesal, Oh Pandesal – How We Love Thee 💖
Ah, pandesal – the fluffy, sweet, and savory dinner roll that is a staple in Filipinx households.
When I was younger, we'd go to the market and grab a bag of pandesal after school. I'd stare at the bag longingly – the joined, pillowy rolls nested sweetly in the plastic – until we arrived home. In the mornings, my mom would heat them up in our toaster oven, and the smell of pandesal would waft through the house. The scent was a telltale signal that it was time to get ready for school. We'd leave with our backpacks on and pandesal in hand – dressed to the nines with butter and sugar – and head out for another day.
Pandesal wasn't your ordinary dinner roll. It was a love language of its own – it meant family picnics, dinners, school lunches, snacks with your cousins while your mom and your aunties played Mah Jongg.
It's a versatile carbohydrate filled with nostalgia, pairing well with salty spam or silog, and served with a side of memory-making.
Shout out to the yeasty, airy goodness that is pandesal. You make every day a great day to be Filipinx.
SO now that we got you drooling...
Okay –maybe all this talk of pandesal has your mouth watering. Your local Asian or Filipinx market should carry some pandesal to satisfy your hunger pangs. But maybe, just maybe, you're ready to give homemade pandesal a shot. Where to start?
On YouTube alone you'll be scrolling through pages and pages of recipes. We did that sifting for you and found this great recipe from Jeanelle Eats. A step-by-step, easy tutorial that'll have you stuffing your face in no time.
Pandesal is Made – now what? Decisions, Decisions...
1. Baryo's Coconut Jam
One taste of Baryo's Coconut Jam, and you'll want to put it on everything (believe us, we've tried...bananas, strawberries, plantains, tortilla chips). Baryo's handmade version of "Matamis Na Bao" or Coconut Jam is a salty-sweet confection so mind-blowing it'll have you contemplating the meaning of life as you know it.
2. Rice & Shine's Signature Ensaymada Butter
All the cheesy, buttery, sugary goodness of Ensaymada in an 8oz tub. Try some on your pandesal, puto, suman or more.
You can only get this one in Los Angeles, but if you happen to be local, it's worth the drive to pick it up at Bebot Filipino Soul Food in Long Beach, which was recently featured in the LA Times.
3. Teofilo Coffee
Beans grown in Bokod or Mount Apo (which has been noted as some of the best coffee in the world), delivered to your door.
Sometimes your pandesal wants to take a little swim in some fresh, hot coffee. Give your fluffy new friend the dip of their short and sweet pandesal life with Teofilo Coffee. Best served black, the family-owned coffee roaster is a full-bodied, Filipinx coffee experience.
Photo Credit: All Photos by Nick Agro
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