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Pandesal (Aaron Verzosa's neutral-oil version)

Pandesal · pan de sal · Pandesal (Filipino bread rolls)

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Filipino pandesal made with a neutral-oil wheat dough, folded through a 3½-hour fermentation and coated in breadcrumbs.

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Freshly baked pandesal rolls with a light golden crust and fine breadcrumb coating.

A neutral-oil pandesal formula

PBS Food identifies pandesal as a common bread roll in the Philippines and notes that it has many forms. The recipe credits Aaron Verzosa, featured in PBS’s Seattle episode of No Passport Required. This page follows one distinct formula: its fat choice is neutral oil, so the dough contains no egg or dairy. It is separate from milk-, egg- and butter-enriched pandesal formulas.

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Mix, fold and portion

Mix water, instant yeast, both flours, sugar and salt just until combined, then cover for 15–30 minutes. Pinch neutral oil into the dough for 2–3 minutes, cover for 30 minutes and pinch again for 1–2 minutes. Fold the dough over itself four times, ferment for one hour, and repeat the folding cycle two more times at one-hour intervals. The total fermentation for this stage is 3½ hours.

Portion pieces at about 35 g, roll them into balls and rest for 10 minutes before forming the final shapes. The PBS page gives no number of rolls or total batch weight, so this record does not assign a yield count.

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Breadcrumb coating and bake

Set a convection oven to 365°F (185°C). Dip one side of each roll lightly in neutral oil and coat that side with breadcrumbs. Space the rolls on a baking sheet, cover and proof at 70–80°F (21–27°C) for 45 minutes to 1½ hours, until roughly doubled or a light press springs back slowly. Bake for 8–12 minutes, depending on the oven, until golden.

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Raw-flour handling

The dough contains raw flour. Do not taste it before baking, keep it away from ready-to-eat foods, and wash hands, bowls, utensils and counters after handling it. CDC advises baking raw dough before eating; no additional internal endpoint is supplied for this recipe.

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History

PBS Food presents pandesal as a common bread roll in the Philippines and credits this formula to Aaron Verzosa, featured in the Seattle episode of No Passport Required. The page notes a diversity of pandesal forms; this neutral-oil formula is one distinct version, not a universal recipe.

Ingredients

Scaling: source batch only

All-purpose flour
946 mL4 cup as recorded
Whole-wheat flour
79 mL⅓ cup as recorded
Water
355 mL1½ cup as recorded
Instant dry yeast
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Neutral oilUse this option instead of the source’s melted butter to keep the formula dairy-free.
79 mL⅓ cup as recorded
Sugar
118 mL½ cup as recorded
Salt
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
Neutral oil for coatingFor dipping one side of each shaped roll before coating in crumbs.
Amount not stated
The source gives no amount.
BreadcrumbsRoll the oiled side of each shaped roll in breadcrumbs.
Amount not stated
The source gives no amount.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and dough

Uncooked flour can contain germs that cause foodborne illness; do not taste the dough before baking.

Hazard source

Bake the dough before eating. Wash hands, bowls, utensils and counters after handling raw flour or dough, and keep raw flour away from ready-to-eat foods.

Control source

This selected formula uses neutral oil instead of the source’s optional melted butter and contains no egg or dairy. The source gives bake time and a golden-colour cue but no measured internal endpoint.

  1. Pour the water into a large bowl and disperse the instant yeast in it. Add both flours, sugar and salt; hand-mix just until combined. Cover and rest for 15–30 minutes.
  2. Add ⅓ cup neutral oil. Pinch it into the dough for about 2–3 minutes. Cover for 30 minutes, then pinch again for another 1–2 minutes.
  3. Fold the dough over itself four times, pulling one corner across to the opposite side. Ferment for one hour and fold again. Repeat this one-hour fermentation and folding cycle two more times; the total fermentation for this stage is 3½ hours.
  4. Portion the dough into pieces of about 35 g. Roll each into a ball and rest for 10 minutes, then roll each ball into its final shape.
  5. Set a convection oven to 365°F (185°C) and preheat it. Dip one side of each roll lightly in neutral oil, roll that side in breadcrumbs, and place the rolls on a baking sheet with space between them.
  6. Cover the rolls and proof at 70–80°F (21–27°C) for about 45 minutes to 1½ hours, until about doubled or a light press springs back slowly.
  7. Bake in the preheated convection oven until golden, about 8–12 minutes depending on the oven.

Conditions

Fermentation4.25–5 h
Temperature21.1–185°C
Temperature controlMulti-stage

Places

Philippines

Documented preparation · Country evidence

PBS identifies pandesal as a common bread roll in the Philippines and presents this specific formula courtesy of Filipino-American chef Aaron Verzosa; it does not establish an exclusive regional style or origin.

See Philippineson the mapLocation source 1 →

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