The variety of Filipino-style breads at St. Louis Filipino Bread in Maryland Heights is astonishing. The little space opened in April—and by “little,” we mean a space about the size of your high school counselor’s office, except filled with bread instead of brochures.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the choices. There are boxes on tables and on shelves as high as you can reach. The window behind the counter looks onto a kitchen with a bustle of bakers who seem constantly in motion.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
“We’re from the Philippines, but we all live here now,” explains one worker, explaining that there’s a significant enough number of Filipinos in St. Louis to make a market for one of the cherished elements of Filipino food.
An industrial-size mixer and a nifty machine with a belt that tumbles along breads freshly stuffed into cellophane packages are both busy. Breads on the shelf, already packaged, are called pang-estante. If you ask what’s currently turo-turo, the staff will tell you which breads are just coming from the oven and you can order them still hot.
As you’re considering the array of options, you need to know that ube are purple yams. They’re boiled and mashed in all kinds of Filipino desserts. Attempts at explaining their taste usually include such words as “white chocolate,” “vanilla,” “pistachios,” and “I couldn’t get past that Harold’s Crayon color.” What’s easier to describe is the texture, creamy and smooth. Ube was featured as a mousse in a filled doughnut recently offered by the Manila Social Club in Brooklyn, topped with a Cristal champagne icing and 24K gold and which would set you back a hundred bucks.
There are several breads that use ube as an ingredient that contributes sweetness and a creamy richness. Ube bread are doughnut-sized buns stuffed with a pudding of the purple yam. Ube crinkles are similar to puffy sugar cookies with deep crevices and a satisfying crunch.
Ensaymada (pictured above) will remind you of a brioche, eggy and yeasty light, made with butter instead of lard and rolled in sugar. They come in big, swirled knots. If you want to taste them at their decadent best, dip them in a mug of hot chocolate.
Pan de sal will probably be the most familiar-tasting bread here and among the bakery’s most popular items. It’s like a Parker House roll, even looks the same with a golden brown top, and has a puffy, airy lightness that melts away, leaving just a faint taste of salt and will leave you wondering how managed to eat half a dozen without realizing it. The rolls get a dusting of bread crumbs before going into the oven that add a subtle topping that adds to their addictive charm. (If you like your rolls slightly crunchy on top, ask if they have any pan de sal tostado that spend a little more time in the oven.)
Pan de coco buns are stuffed with bukayo, shredded coconut that’s sweetened and then caramelized. Dark chocolate fills German Choco Bread. Pan de pula means “red bread,” but the alternate term, used at St. Louis Filipino Bread, is kalihim. The filling includes sugar, milk, and vanilla, along with a hefty dollop of red food coloring and stale bread left over from yesterday’s baking. It makes a scarlet jam that’s gooey and sweet.
Like pan de pula, Pig Pie (pictured above) is another item worth ordering just for the name. There’s no pig—it’s a savory onion bun. Then there’s red pudding bahug-bahug that’s sort of a Filipino take on bread pudding. And don’t forget the the cinnamon rolls, as big and lusty as a you know what-bon but with a much lighter texture and slathered with icing.
The variety at the bakery is extraordinary. It’s a great addition to the St. Louis food scene. Your best bet: Ask for one sweet bread and one savory version, then start working your way through the offerings on successive visits.
