How To Bake Pandesal and Other Breads

Got this article fro Sephardim.com, and i am curious about what this pan de semita is. I tried pan dulce and loved it enough to include my version in my ebook. Looks like a tortilla, unleavened form of bread or something. Below is my version of the pan dulce, half vanilla streusel and half chocolate. The vanilla flavor though is more popular, so i make buns with no chocolate in it. Sephardic Jewish foods in old Texas. Why do Mexican Americans in Texas and in the Mexican province of nearby Monterrey eat “Semitic bread” on Passover/Lent? According to scholar Richard G. Santos, Tex-Mex pastries such as pan dulce, pan de semita, trenzas, cuernos, pan de hero, and pan de los protestantes (Protestant’s bread) are similar to familiar Jewish pastries eaten by Sephardic Jews today in many other parts of the world. Pan de semita was eaten in pre-inquisition Spain by a Jew or an Arab Moor. Today, it’s popular in Texas and in that part of Mexico bordering Texas. It translates into E...

This is the 60 gram Pandesal, with out any filling (same batch as the adobo Pandesal). 1.8 % yeast level. Proofing temperature is 78 F. Proofing time is 4 hours. If i want a slightly tighter grain, i will bake this batch after only 3 hours of proof time. This hearty artisan rolls proofed for 8 hours, 1 % yeast, 85 F proofing temperature. This Pandesal has a much tighter grain, proofed for 1 1/2 hours only, 1.8 % yeast level, proofing temperature is at a warm 88 F. This version is what makes the round in most Filipino households these days.

Another Filipino staple, Adobo just like Pandesal has many versions depending on the region the cook comes from. I remember we had this helper, Manang whatever who adds 4 pieces of fresh calamansi juice in the adobo after cooking. The only problem is, she keeps half of the adobo for her and her niece so i barely get to eat it sometimes. The flavor of the cooked vinegar coupled with the sourness of the calamansi cuts the fat from the chicken skin. Another version is with tanglad or lemon grass, coconut milk and chilli (siling labuyo), but my family's favorite is the slightly sweet version, with the bay leaf and crushed black pepper. Leftover adobo is good for fried rice and for filling your pandesal or soft bun dough. The vinegar acts as a preservative so you do not need to refrigerate the filled adobo buns, actually you may add a bit of five spice powder to this, thicken it with a teaspoon of cornstarch and that can be your asado filling for siopao or dumplings. ADOBO FILLING...