MANILA, Philippines — Celebrity chef Sau Del Rosario cannot seem to go wrong. With every dish that he whips up and pie that he bakes, he always ends up with a winner in his hands.
This is because he knows how to tweak his recipes and use unique ingredients or techniques to come up with a winner all the time. Take for example his famous Crispy Pork Belly Kare-Kare, Boneless Pollo a la Plancha, and the pandemic-born Vuco Fye.
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Chefs would usually not be willing to share the recipes of their bestsellers. But not Chef Sau, who is confident enough to reveal the recipe of his bestselling Vuco Fye on Solane Kitchen Moments. He was recently a guest on the YouTube page of the brand.
Aside from sharing recipes, Chef Sau also talked about his journey towards finding his calling, experiencing culture and making memories through food.
His legacy dishes can be found at Le Petit Café Fleur, one of the most successful food concepts in Poblacion, Makati. The restaurant actually started in Chef Sau’s home province, Pampanga, where people would go (despite the distance) to have a taste of Chef Sau’s cooking.
The opening of the Makati branch makes it easier for Manileños to access good food courtesy of Chef Sau, including his three bestsellers, whose secret ingredients or techniques the multi-talented chef shared on the online show.
For the Crispy Pork Belly Kare-Kare, Chef Sau openly shared that the secret ingredient to its rich and creamy flavor is gata.
For the Mexican dish Boneless Pollo a la Plancha, what makes it truly flavorful and pleasing to the Filipino palate is the Pinoy twist he has given the dish to make the flavor very familiar to Filipinos. For his pandemic baby, Vuco Fye, a classic Buko Pie named from the unique way Kapampangans pronounce ‘b’ and ’v’ as well as ‘p’ and ‘f’, he goes a step further by sharing its recipe.
Vuco Fye
INGREDIENTS:
For the filling:
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup powdered milk
2 tsps. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup coconut water
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
Coconut meat, sliced
For the crust:
2 cups flour
2 tsps. salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
PROCEDURE:
1. Prepare the filling or custard mixture. In a bowl, mix together cornstarch, powdered milk, sugar and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine coconut water, vanilla extract and egg.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until well incorporated.
4. Prepare the crust. Mix dry ingredients — flour and salt — together in a bowl. Add in water, butter and egg. Mix thoroughly. Knead the dough. Set aside and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle some flour on a cold, flat surface. Divide your dough into two parts, one larger than the other. The larger one will serve as base and the smaller one as top crust. Roll both parts out to an even thickness.
6. To assemble, grease a springform pan. Take your base dough and fit it to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Layer with a generous helping of coconut meat slices and custard mixture. Fill to the brim. Then place rolled out top crust dough on top and seal the edges with a French braid. Poke small holes on the top crust to let out steam. Brush top crust with egg wash before putting the pan inside the oven preheated to 165 degree Fahrenheit.
7. Bake for about 1 hour.
8. Take it out from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
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