Feb 24 , 2021
A Twist To A Nostalgic Recipe!
Malunggay Pandesal!
Pandesal has a nostalgic effect on me…it reminds me of my childhood. Growing up in the Philippines and living in a village surrounded with rice fields, pandesal was our daily bread. It was delivered daily, before sunrise, right to our front door. The smell of freshly delivered pandesal and brewing coffee were the ultimate motivation to wake up and get ready for school. So, I owe some of my successes to a great tasting pandesal…lol!!
When I got married I got interested in cooking and baking. But nobody believed that I did not know how to cook until I started watching Food Network. I often joke around and tell people today, that I graduated from Food Network, when they ask where I’d learned to cook…
It didn’t feel like it, but in retrospect, I was a little spoiled as a kid. My mom did all the chores around the house. The deal was, as long as we graduate from school we do not have to worry about chores. My dad was always the cook at home; we rarely helped him in cooking as he was so particular and he controlled everything right down to the most minute detail, such as how you chop an ingredient, and if you got it wrong you were in trouble. But I learned a lot from him about cooking, and I think I am a lot like him - he talks a lot…and when I say he talks a lot, he lectures like a nerd…lol! He will tell you what vitamins are in Moringa and why it is good for you. He’ll explain why a certain vegetable has to be cooked or cut a certain way.
This brings me back to my journey of creating this soft & fluffy pandesal. It was not easy! Lots of trial, and error, and pounds of flour - rice flour, all-purpose flour, bread flour, cake flour…etc. I’ve created a pandesal that were hard as a rock, burnt to a crisp, dry as dust, pasty as glue, etc., etc., and I just kept trying to figure out what happened and tried again.
The foundation of my yummy Moringa Dinner Roll (Malunggay Pandesal) came from our Minister’s wife - a soft pandesal recipe - plus a few tweaks and my own techniques. I hope you enjoy this delicious Malunggay pandesal!!!
Enjoy!
