Pan de sal

March 18, 2006 | Other food products |

If the Philippines has a national bread, it would be pan de sal. It crosses over social and economic classes. Rich or poor, you will find pan de sal in most Filipino household’s breakfast table. In many rural areas, and this is how a lot of old people still prefer to eat their pan de sal, the bread in dipped in hot “coffee” that is often made from toasted rice. We’re a Third World Country and there are places, especially in the provinces, where coffee is a luxury. But rice is abundant, so…

But I digress, I was talking about pan de sal. What is it? Obviously, a bread. A roll to be more precise. But why is it unique? Actually, I don’t know how unique it is. It is special to us Filipinos because it is part of our culture. For many of us, it is part of our childhood and it evokes warm memories of our parents’ homes.

Pan de sal is a roll, usually sweet (ironic since the name implies it is supposed to be a salty bread), with a crusty surface but soft inside. It is characterized by the bread crumbs that is sprinkled over the dough before it goes into the oven.

The size, shape, color and quality of pan de sal vary. The inexpensive ones are from the neighborhood panaderia (bakery) is rather small and light. The more expensive ones in bigger bake shops may be big or small but almost always more compact and dense. The bad ones will turn hard as rocks after several hours; the good ones will stay soft even after a day (Marketman has a rant about how commercialized pan de sal has gotten so bad).

The best thing about the pan de sal is its versatility. It goes well with butter and, therefore, a great accompaniment for soup in a Continental dinner. Small-sized pan de sal is really best with soup. The bigger ones can be split in half and stuffed with vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, onions), cheese, ham or just about anything that you can use with Western rolls. Last Christmas, we served our ham with pan de sal and it was just glorious!

If you want to try baking pan de sal at home, English Patis has a recipe. Manong Ken has another and Manuel Viloria has links to two more. Me, I have a recipe for corned beef pan de sal.

Tags: bread, pandesal, Filipino food, food blog, Food and Drink

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