Filipino rolls filled with adobo (adobo pandesal)

These rolls, from Yasmin Newman's 7000 Islands cookbook, are a popular way to eat leftover adobo in the Philippines.

Adobo, the national Filipino dish, served in pandesal. Credit: Chris Chen

• makes

  20

• prep

  55 minutes

• cook

  1:25 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 190 ml milk
• 60 ml (¼ cup) canola oil, plus extra, to grease
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 160 g (1 cup) wholemeal flour
• 450 g (3 cups) plain flour
• 1 x 7 g yeast sachet
• 105 g (1½ cups) dried breadcrumbs

Adobo

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 250 g pork loin, trimmed, cut into 3 pieces
• 250 g chicken breast fillet, halved
• 1 onion, cut into wedges
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed
• 60 ml (¼ cup) soy sauce
• 3 bay leaves
• 125 ml (½ cup) rice vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar

Resting time 1 hour 15 minutes

Instructions

Place milk, oil, sugar, 1 tsp salt and 250 ml water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and heat until lukewarm.

Meanwhile, place flours and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Place on low speed and beat, gradually pouring in milk mixture, until a dough forms. Increase speed to medium and knead for a further 8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic (it will be very sticky). Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 220°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Punch down dough and divide into 4 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a 25 cm-long log, then roll in breadcrumbs to coat. Cut each log on an angle into 4cm pieces (don’t make the angle too sharp or rolls will be too big). Place pieces cut side-down on prepared trays, spaced 5 cm apart. Set aside for 15 minutes or until rolls have nearly doubled in size. Bake rolls for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

To make adobo, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Season pork and chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan. Cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 tbsp oil, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until soft. Return pork and chicken to pan with soy, bay leaves and 500 ml water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar, sugar and 2 tsp pepper. Cover and cook for a further 35 minutes or until meat is tender.

Remove pork and chicken and transfer to a plate. Shred into thick pieces. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer liquid for 12 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds. Strain through a sieve and return shredded meat to sauce. Slice pandesal in half and fill with adobo meat and a little of the sauce. Serve immediately.

Photography Chris Chen

As seen in Feast magazine, March 2014, Issue 29. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.