Trailstops: Pan de Sal

At the crack of dawn, the scent of freshly baked bread emanates from the bakery at the corner. Mom (Nanay) must have been awake at the same time as the bakers, fixing things here and there, making coffee (or warming up milk for me), or ironing the sole skirt that was my school uniform, washed the night before. As the sun slowly makes its way out of its hiding place, someone (my father, or probably my older bro) would rush to the bakery to get some of those little bread rolls, known as pan de sal ('bread of salt'), placed in a brown paper bag, to be eaten before it gets cold. Choose from a variety of possible fillings, from butter (with white sugar! well, think of the concept of fairy cakes), corned beef, cheese (the saucy cheese spread Cheez Whiz or just plain cheese), or just by itself, dunked in a steaming mug of coffee.

Ask any Pinoy about pan de sal, especially an adult who has gone away from home, and there would be a million different versions of memories associated with this piece of bread. There would even be a time when the cost of one pan de sal, being a couple of cents, would denote the state of the Philippine economy (the more expensive the pan de sal, the worse the economy is getting!).

Funny how some recollections can be summarized in a bread roll... so having been able to reminisce some of mine one Sunday morning when the pan de sal came out of my oven... was pretty special.

This recipe was inspired by this post from the site Apple Pie, Patis and Pate - the author of which mentioned that he was of Filipino descent and currently living overseas as well.

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups room temperature water
1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients except bread crumbs, and knead until smooth. Place in an oiled boil and cover with a tea towel, let rise until doubled in size. Roll out the dough into a log about 2 inches wide, and roll it in bread crumbs.

Using the blunt side of a knife cut the dough into 1 inch pieces, and place on a baking sheet cut side up about 1 inch apart.