My Pandesal Story

The scent of freshly baked bread is very comforting, it's one of the best scents in the world. 

It's funny that this scent was at some point a source of mild resentment to me. I remember being forced to wake up early as a child to buy pandesal at the neighborhood's bakery/ corner store. It didn't help that the owner/baker was a middle-aged man with quite an unfriendly, rough, and intimidating disposition. I can still remember his voice whenever he yells at his help in the store. He was not a pleasant man to deal with, his baseline facial expression was the exact opposite of the atmosphere of the warm inviting scent, as soon I got my bag of freshly baked pandesal, I zoomed out of his place to have it enjoy at home with coffee.

Freshly baked pandesal

As I learned my way around Metro Manila, I came across the "pugon" baked ones, they are fluffier, bigger, and tastier, the only downside was pugon baked pandesal price was unfriendly for my student budget, it's one of my "humble" splurges. After leaving Manila, I never taste pugon-style pandesal for so many years...until...A few years ago, there was a bakery in Richmond that specialized in Filipino bread, and their main star - pugon-style pandesal, I recall that 🐻 and would regularly visit Old Manila Bakery for our pandesal and ensaymada fix...but sadly my beloved Old Manila closed...(a common occurrence in Metro Vancouver food scene)

Fast forward to Covid lockdowns, one of my "projects" was to learn to make pandesal and find ways to make it "healthier" for my daughter...

I figured  I should start with the basic: semi-whole wheat pandesal, the taste has to be the same (slightly sweet, and milky) and can be enjoyed even with less white flour.

I found a recipe that matches my memory of how pandesal should be. I tweaked the recipe so the taste remains the same and whole wheat flour is not overpowering. If I don't add whole wheat flour, I could emulate the 'pugon'- style pandesal - bigger, fluffier, and buttery - the way I like it. 

(っ˘ڡ˘ς)

The scent of pandesal emanating from the kitchen is now a source of excitement. Anything pandesal has become our bonding activity, we love it with butter, jam, cream, cheese, and Nutella, it doesn't sound healthy for now, but there are plans to add spinach or moringa powder in the future...I'll keep things simple for now as my dear daughter wants to get involved in the baking process.

My helper

Mr. Grumpy Baker passed on a long time ago (may he rest in peace), not sure who is the new current go-to-pandesal person of the town, but I hope he/she greets the patrons better.