#20_ Pan de Sal ( Philippine Dinner Rolls)

Pannn-de-sssssaaaallll!!!

Growing up, these ubiquitous dinner rolls were a very popular breakfast item among Filipinos for their versatility and convenience. We used to fill them with scrambled eggs, sardines, mackerel omeletes, corned beef, you name it, the list can go on and on. I remember every bakery in the city was opened as early as 4:00 in the morning and if you came in a little past 7:00 a.m. you were lucky if there was some left for you.
Pan De Sal was one of the first Filipino food that I missed when I left home. I'm so lucky that a family friend, Bayani Parayno, who had a bakery back in his hometown, showed me how to form the pandesal using dough made in the bread machine.

About 22 years ago my husband gave me a bread maker for Mother's Day and it probably idled for a couple of years after I used it once, because the loaf of bread I made didn't turn out very well. I said, "The heck! I can't make bread..it's cheaper to buy it". Not long after that, I gave it another try, studied the manual instructions, and experimented with different recipes. After that I was hooked and spoiled too, because I can't make breads without this machine.

This recipe is from my sister, Melita, which was given to her by a friend, but I had made some alterations to suit my bread machine. The beauty of this recipe is that it only requires one rising, and no need of proofing the yeast which means you don't need to activate the yeast in warm water first before mixing it with the other ingredients.

(I'm going to update this Pan de Sal dough recipe and share with you some changes I had made. Due to the higher cost of Bread Flour nowadays, I had switched to All Purpose Flour in practically all of my bread recipes, and increased the amount of Vital Wheat Gluten....gotta have the Vital Wheat Gluten if using all purpose flour. I also made adjustments on some other ingredients for a better yield. This new recipe yields 32 pieces or more depending on how you roll and cut the dough. The old recipe only yield 24. The changes I made here are indicated by red asterisk).

Ingredients:

2-1/4* cups milk, warm (or 1-1/4 cup milk + 1 cup water)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 stick butter, very soft

6 cups* all purpose flour* (plus 1/4 cup if needed)

2-1/4* tsp Saf instant yeast

1 tsp dough enhancer, my secret ingredient, now revealed

1 Tbp* vital wheat gluten, another secret ingredient

1 tsp salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

Baking Procedure:

1. Put all the ingredients in the bread machine pan in order given above starting with the warm milk.

2. Select "Basic Dough" or "Quick Dough" setting and let the machine do the mixing and kneading. Mine takes 30 minutes to do the cycle. Its a good idea to experiment with your bread makers first.

3. Take the dough out of the pan and divide it in half for easy handling, or use the other half for other kinds of bread like cinnamon rolls, or just plain dinner rolls. Cover it with greased plastic wrap.

4. On a floured surface, ( I prefer to use oil) roll out half of the dough into rectangle

5. Starting on the side closest to you, roll up the dough like you would jelly roll only tighter and longer like a stick. Make sure to seal the seams securely by pinching them using your thumb and forefinger. Do the same with the other half

6. Using a dough cutter, or a knife, slice the rolled-up dough into 1-1/2 to 2-inch thickness

7. Toss these slices of dough onto some bread crumbs, coating each cut side with the crumbs and gently form them into somewhat oval shapes

8. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until they are doubled in size,(that's all the rising they need). Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 18 to 23 minutes depending on your oven.

This is an authentic old fashion kind of Pan de Sal, soft but not fluffy. If you grew up in the 50's and 60's you know what I mean. You want your Pan de Sal to be hefty enough or strong enough to hold up to the fillings we Filipinos put in our rolls (palaman sa tinapay).

Now you can enjoy warm Pan de Sal anytime even if you're away from the Philippines.

Gramma enjoys her pandesal with hot cocoa while Grampa Gregg likes his with peanut butter and raspberry jam

grandson Conner

and grandaughter, Aurionna enjoy their rolls with just plain butter.

Notes from MaMely:

1. I also use this recipe for just plain dinner rolls. After the dough cycle is finished take the dough out and form into rolls about (more or less) 2 1/2 inches diameter. Arrange rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the temperature in your home. Bake same way as pandesal.

2. Another name for dough enhancer is dough conditioner. If you don't have dough enhancer, you can crush a vitamin C tablet, (500 mg or 1,000 mg). This will act as dough conditioner. I learned this from a book entitled " BREAD BAKING MADE EASY" by Dora Flack (1984). She also said that dough conditioner works as a yeast enhancer, helping it (the yeast) to achieve its maximum potential. It also strengthens the gluten and produces a lighter, more elastic bread.

3. Wheat Gluten, according to her, wheat gluten traps the gases given off by the yeast enabling the dough to rise higher. It gives better texture and helps retain moisture in breads and dough. It also prevent crumbling.

3. Put the egg on one side of the pan and the yeast on one side so they won't be touching each other. You don't want the egg in the warm water either as you might end up with a poached egg. This is just a precaution.

Important bread-making tips from KAF bakers

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/100-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-recipe

• Don't bother heating the orange juice to lukewarm; you can use it straight out of the fridge. The orange juice won't add its own flavor to the bread, but will mellow any potential bitterness in the whole wheat.
• If you're kneading bread by hand, it's tempting to keep adding flour till the dough is no longer sticky. Resist the temptation! The more flour you add while you're kneading, the heavier and drier your final loaf will be.
• The amount of liquid you use to make the "perfect" dough will vary with the seasons. Flour is like a sponge; it absorbs water during the humid days of summer, and dries out during the winter. Your goal should be making the dough as it's described (e.g., cohesive, soft but not sticky), rather than sticking religiously to the amount of liquid.
• When making yeast bread, let the dough rise to the point the recipe says it should, e.g., "Let the dough rise till it's doubled in bulk." Rising times are only a guide; there are so many variables in yeast baking (how you kneaded the dough; what kind of yeast you used) that it's impossible to say that bread dough will ALWAYS double in bulk in a specific amount of time.

UPDATE ....

4-14-09

Click here to link to Malisa's blog where Malisa, the author, made this recipe with some few adjustments. Other than the few changes she made, she is happy with the result. (Read her nice comment in this post too).