Pandesal (Filipino bread rolls)

Pandesal - made January 4, 2015 from Kawaling Pinoy

A bag of fresh, hot pandesal in Pateros

One of my favorite things to eat in the Philippines and an essential part of our morning ritual for each of the 10 days of our stay was the bag (or sometimes 2 bags) of hot, fresh pandesal that my uncle brought us every morning. He sent someone out to get it when he saw we were waking up and meandering downstairs for breakfast. I rarely wake up hungry and it usually takes an hour or two of being awake, plus my morning workout, before I get hungry enough to eat anything. Not so while I was on vacation and there was pandesal to be had. On the surface, pandesal are Filipino bread rolls. In reality, it's delicious goodness that I can't find anywhere outside of the Philippines. You can buy it at Asian grocery stores and Filipino bakeries but it's just not the same. Every morning, that flimsy brown paper bag filled with at least a dozen or more small pandesal rolls, still hot from the oven, is like no other. You don't even need to eat it with butter; it's just as delicious plain. The outside is a little bit crusty but not overly so and the inside is soft, chewy, bread-y goodness.

It was also cheap, by both American and Filipino standards. I'm not sure exactly how much it was since no one ever let us pay for any of it (cultural generosity at work once again) but I don't think it was more than 20-30 pesos - or 50 to 60 cents - for a full bag of warm pandesal. Depending on the size, one bag can hold a dozen, sometimes more. They don't have a long shelf life but that was never an issue since they didn't last much longer than a few minutes once we'd gathered around the table. Not all pandesal is created equal either. I've tried other pandesal in the Philippines but the ones in my hometown of Pateros were the best.

Once I got back home, the first thing I missed, of course, was the warm pandesal for breakfast. No joke, I downed at least 3 or 4 of those little bread rolls every.single.day. Back at home, I was pandesal-less.

Nothing to do but try and make my own. I didn't expect to be able to duplicate the ones in Pateros but surprisingly, I actually came close on the flavor if not the texture. This recipe is really simple to make. My mistake was I made the rolls a bit too big. They came out like American-sized dinner rolls, even though I didn't let them rise that long for the second rising because they were getting so big.

Still, the flavor was similar to the ones I had in Pateros. The biggest difference was the texture. Alas, I couldn't duplicate the crunchy outside and soft, mealy inside that's the hallmark of a good pandesal. I think it would've helped if I'd baked them on a bread baking stone but that was one of the things I got rid of when I purged my baking cupboards of "stuff".

Still, for a first attempt, this wasn't too bad. Make sure to roll the tops of the unbaked rolls in bread crumbs before putting them for the second rise. That will add to the authenticity of your pandesal. Serve hot, with or without butter, your choice.

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 ounces butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
4 1/4 cups flour and ¼ to ½ cup more for kneading
½ cup fine breadcrumbs

1. In a large bowl,, combine water and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until mixture becomes bubbly. Stir well.
2. In a small bowl, combine milk, butter, eggs, sugar and salt. Stir together until incorporated..
3. Add milk mixture and 2 cups flour to yeast mixture. Using an electrix mixer, beat to combine. Gradually add the remaining 2-1/4 cup flour in ½ cup increments and continue to combine all ingredients.
4. On a lightly-floured surface, turn over dough and knead, lightly adding flour as necessary, for about 10 minutes or until smooth, supple and elastic.
5. In a lightly-oiled large bowl, place dough. Cover with film and allow to rise for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until double in size.
6. On a lightly-floured surface, transfer dough and divide into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and roll on breadcrumbs to coat. Arrange balls about 1-inch apart on a lightly-greased baking sheet. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until double in size.
7. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot.

Philippines Day 7: Villa Escudero

Day 7: December 28, 2014 - Villa Escudero

One of our tourist excusions of the trip was to travel the 2+ hours (each way) to Villa Escudero south of San Pablo in the province of Laguna. Villa Escudero is a working coconut plantation but it's also a tourist spot, complete with a museum of artifacts collected by the Escudero family, beautiful grounds, waterfalls and a lake.

The views were beautiful and we lucked out on a gorgeous day, not too hot or too humid with brilliant blue skies. When we arrived, we checked in at the reception lounge, paid the entrance fee and began the day tour with the AERA Memorial Museum. Posted signs asked guests to refrain from taking pictures inside the museum so I have nothing to show but it was packed with a myriad of religious statues, clay and stone pots, vintage clothing, international currency throughout the decades, and even a shrunken head picked up by the family at some point in their travels. It's the first time I've been in a place that encapsulated a lot of Philippine history although it encompassed more cultures than that and it was interesting to experience.

After the self-guided, self-paced museum tour, we went on a carabao ride to the waterfalls where lunch was served. I have to say, carabaos are tremendously strong "workhorses". A number of us tourists (at least a dozen) boarded a wheeled trolley car, accompanied by the driver, a guitar player and a singer who serenaded us during the brief ride and the carabao pulled us all. I felt sorry for him but he didn't seem unduly burdened and wasn't even that slow for his size.

Fortunately it was a short ride along the path from the museum and reception area to the Labasin Waterfalls Restaurant was located. Lunch was a buffet and literally at the falls. The picnic tables were set in the water so guests removed their shoes and walked barefoot or with tsinelas to seat themselves. You do have to navigate carefully and watch your step but there were only a few slippery spots. And you couldn't beat the view or the ambiance.

Let me tell you the food was pretty good too. For people who enjoy eating outdoors with a beautiful view, this was a great place for lunch. It'll go down in my memory as the place that also served the best potatoes I've ever had. That honor had previously belonged to China for the best caramelized sweet potatoes I've ever had but Villa Escudero just broke that 16-year record. I don't know how they made it but it was covered in a crunchy brown sugar coating, almost like a sweet, crunchy breading but it wasn't a breading but more like a crunchy sweet glaze. It's hard to describe but it was freakin' delicious.

Best Potato Ever

So good I had to take another picture of it

After lunch, we had some time to kill before the show of native dances so we walked around a bit. My niece had fun clowning around with some of the decorative statues sprinkled through the grounds, depicting typical courtship poses in courting young couples back in the day. Ha, there's that Filipino humor again.

There was also a lake where guests/tourists can go paddle boating in old-school style with bamboo rafts.  One of my nieces used to be on the dragon boat team for UCLA so she dragged her twin onto the lake, promising she would "do all the work". Yep, her twin fell for it. But they still had a good time.

All in all, a fun excursion and it was really nice to experience such a beautiful resort in the Philippines. We don't usually venture too far out from our hometown so this made for a nice change and it was great to see another side of the Philippines.

Philippines Day 6: Family party

December 27, 2014 - family party in the garden

The new gazebo in the garden

One of the big events during our trip was our family party. We have a section of land near our family compound that's simply known as "the garden" or, sometimes more formally, as "Nanay's Garden", referring to my grandmother. A neighbor's house stands between our family compound and the garden so it's literally just a few steps away from our house. One section holds my uncle's furniture making shop, another section is a barbecue pit where they roast overflow lechons during peak season. The rest of the garden used to be a large piece of land that was basically where anything could grow, did. Today various tropical trees abound, including banana trees and apple mango hybrids.

Recently, my dad had it cleared and a cement gazebo structure was erected. Open air with a large, high, peaked roof and a cement floor, it’s an ideal place to host parties and other social gatherings. Which is what we did for our family party. It was part family, part family friends, part former high school kids from my dad’s old high school. He does a lot to support his old school, does fundraising for scholarships for the kids, to buy computer equipment, supplies and so on and he keeps in touch with many of the former students, including inviting some of them to the gathering.

Ready to hold the lechon

Flower centerpiece for each table

The party was scheduled to be a luncheon at noon so that morning, we (me, my sister, my nieces, my mom and dad and a few cousins and helpers from the compound) gathered to help set up. We had rented tables, chairs, seat covers and tablecloths from a local business; they dropped them off and we set them up. My mom had brought some Christmas-themed decorations and my nieces showed a flair for the artsy in setting them up. My sister commissioned our temporary maid to seek out flower centerpieces for each of the tables and she came up with great ones that provided a nice splash of color against each white tablecloth.

Another one of my cousins, Ate Susan (“Ate” – pronounced “ah-teh” - is a term of respect for an older sister or an older female cousin), who’s known as one of the good cooks in the family, did the heavy lifting of doing most of the cooking for the party. We were expecting around 70 people and in Filipino culture, that means you make enough food for at least 100. Remember, be generous with food and food will be generous with you. 

Balut (duck eggs)

Pancit Malabon

Another shot of the Pancit Malabon

My dad bought the biggest lechon available (it helps to have connections in the family business) and Ate Susan made Manok sa Pina (Chicken in Pineapple), lumpiang sariwa (the vegetable filling for fresh veggie lumpia, not to be confused with fried lumpia filled with pork), Beef Mercado (beef stew in a tomato-based sauce), Pancit Malabon (my favorite Filipino noodle dish) and another beef dish. Our family friend, Beckang, made batchoy. Uh, that would be classified as “deep Filipino food”, not quite for my Americanized taste buds even if I wasn’t such a picky eater. But everyone else loved it. We also had balut or duck eggs, something our hometown of Pateros is famous for. Desserts were leche flan, also courtesy of Ate Susan as that’s her specialty and a side business for her and her son (Swannie’s Jars) and Buko Pandan, a traditional Filipino dessert made of young coconut or "buko" and pandan leaves. Plus rice. Must always have rice at a Filipino luncheon.

Manok sa Pina (Chicken in Pineapple)

Batchoy

Vegetable filling normally for Vegetable Lumpia

Leche Flan

Buko Pandan

The family theme was red and white. Per my sister’s instructions for picture-taking purposes, the girls wore red and the males wore white. Or some semblance of it. When you have as many family members as we do, 80-90% compliance is pretty good. At our major family reunions, we always try to take group pictures. It’s something to document and cherish as the years go by, children grow up, other family members pass, and the rest of us just….grow older.

All in all, a fun day with the family. The gazebo proved to be a boon and a great way to christen the launch of a new branch of the family business – providing a location for others to hire for their parties and events.

Just a fraction of our family

Pure Gold (grocery store)

Pure Gold grocery store - visited December 26, 2014, Pasig, Philippines

The walkalator

For those of you who’ve never been to the Philippines, it might seem odd for me to blog about a grocery store but, as someone who likes all things food, I also like to get a picture of what all things food in other countries are like, even something as mundane as the grocery store. 

Perhaps your mental picture of the Philippines only includes roadside fruit stands and crude structures selling street food or small “sari-sari” stores that are like little condensed, limited 7-11s where you can buy rice, canned goods, and soap plus the odd pack of toothpaste and bananas.

If so, then welcome to Pure Gold grocery store. The one we went to was housed in a large, two-story building with a covered parking garage on the first floor and a “lobby” where you enter past the security guard (who gives a cursory glance through your purse like they do at Disneyland) and take the “walkalator” up to the second floor which is the main floor of the grocery store. A walkalator is just like an escalator but without the steps or a people mover such as the ones at an airport except it slants upwards instead of being horizontal. Perfect for anyone in a wheelchair.

Pure Gold is more than a grocery store. It’s probably more like a variety store such as a Woolworth’s in its American heyday. It’s a combination food court, separate pharmacy counter, has a Red Ribbon Bakery stand, and besides groceries, sells appliances and housewares.  

I poked around the different aisles, interested in seeing the wares on offer. As is typical in the Philippines, there are a lot of familiar American products available: Spam, Cheetos, Oreos, Betty Crocker cake mixes, Hershey candy bars and so on. As is also typical, the American-born products are more expensive while the local brands are cheaper. I did some quick comparison pricing and a can of Spam was in the $3-$4 range, not unlike full price in the States, depending on where you buy it and definitely more expensive than when I buy it on sale in bulk at Costco. But that’s actually not a fair comparison because many Filipino jobs don’t pay as much as even the US minimum wage. What a $10 an hour worker would earn at In N Out might be what a worker in the Philippines would make in a day. If they’re lucky. So for them to buy a can of Spam could conceivably eat up a day’s wages. 1 can. Fortunately there are cheaper food options for people in the Philippines but that might give you an idea of why a can of Spam might be considered a luxury or a treat in some families. Everything’s relative. And speaking of Spam, I was actually fascinated to discover it came in different flavors. I’m not a big Spam eater myself but even I was intrigued by Spam Tocino. I love tocino, a marinated Filipino pork dish. I didn’t buy it then but afterwards, I asked my mom to bring back a can so I could try it.

I also had a moment of nostalgia when I saw the end cap display of Milo. Milo is the local chocolate powder drink mix. My grandmother used to have a cup of Milo every day and my earliest memories were of her drinking it. She loved Milo.

Checking out is similar to any American grocery store. The main difference is they still have baggers who bag your purchases. Freezer items are rung up and placed together in the same bag and box so they can remain chilled together for longer until you can get them into the freezer at home, very important in a tropical country. All purchases are boxed in cardboard boxes, similar to Costco who re-uses the shipping boxes their foodstuffs came in, and tied with strong “straw” twine. When you leave the grocery store, you show your receipt to the guard on your way out, also a la Costco albeit there isn’t a Costco in the country.

It was a fun experience to shop in the local grocery store and actually something I try to do no matter which country I visit. You can always find local foodstuffs to try that you can’t get at home. My nieces got the spicy shrimp chips and I bought Nagaraya cracker peanuts, a favorite from childhood. I’m sure both are available in Asian grocery stores in the US (and probably the Spam Tocino too) but there’s something more special about buying it truly local.