This vetkoek recipe is light and crispy on the outside and hollow on the inside to fill with your favorite filling!
The easiest Fetcook / Vetkoek recipe on the planet!
Vetkoek (pronounced fetcook) is a South African dish that is loved by all people in the country. While I was growing up we had church bazaars where all manners of traditional food were served from bunny chow to oxtail stew. But the humble vetkoek was always a firm favorite with the congregation.
This specific recipe I got from a lady who has made thousands of them in the course of her life. Ronel and Kobus run Avondsrus guesthouse in Odendaalsrus where I often stay while working in the area. She told me to save myself the trouble and effort of making my own dough I should just buy dough that is premade and sold in most supermarkets. (Just go to the bakery area of your grocery store and ask for a bag of bread dough) It has enough salt and is ready out of the bag.
The secret for the perfect Vetkoek
To get a crispy and swollen fetcook there are two things that you should remember. Firstly you should not make them too thick. Only roll them out to about 6mm in thickness. This will give you a crispy and hollow vetkoek which you can stuff with your favorite filling. Secondly, you have to continuously pour hot oil over the cakes for the first few minutes until they have taken their form. This is very important and doing it will give you the perfect vetkoek time after time.
What about fillings?
The beauty of this dish is that you can add any filling you want. On the savory side, you can have the traditional filling of curried mince with a dash of fruit chutney on top. Or a chicken mayo filling. They even work wonderfully for burgers! If you have a sweet tooth try adding jam and cheese. The bottom line is that you can’t go wrong with a vetkoek. Give them a try and see how easy it is to make!
South African Fetcook / Vetkoek
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: 4
Description
An easy to make fetcook recipe using store-bought bread dough. Light and crispy on the outside and hollow on the inside to fill with your favorite filling.
Ingredients
- Store bought bread dough
- Vegetable cooking oil
Instructions
- Lightly flour a flat surface like your kitchen table. Then roll out the bread dough with a bread roller to about 6mm thickness. Make sure to turn the dough around twice.
- Using a cookie cutter with a diameter of about 10mm cut the dough into circles and place it on a lightly floured tray. Cover the dough cakes with a plastic sheet and leave in a warm place for about 15 minutes or so until it has risen to about 3 times its original size.
- While the dough is rising, add about 3 inches/ 8cm of vegetable oil to your wok and heat up to 185°C/ 365°F (Make sure there are no kids running around that can knock over the hot oil, Safety first)
- Gently add the first fetcook into the hot oil. Now continuously pour hot oil over the fetcook with a slotted spoon until it rises and puffs up. Do this for a few minutes until it keeps its shape. Then you can leave if for 5 minutes until nicely browned on the bottom side. Gently turn the cake over and cook forn another 5 minutes or so until it is nicely browned all over.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a tray that is lined with absorbent paper. Give it 2 minutes to cool down a bit and then you can cut it open and fill it with your favorite filling either sweet or savory.
- After your first effort, you can add 3 or 4 fetcooks at a time and repeat the process as described above.
Equipment
Wok
Notes
- The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products I use or recommend.
- The biggest secret to a crispy and big fetcook is to continuously pour hot oil over the fetcook with a slotted spoon in the beginning until it has taken its shape.
- If you find that the fetcook loses its shape while cooking just pour some hot oil over the spot until it rises and puffs up again.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: Main meal
- Method: Deep fry
- Cuisine: International
Keywords: Fetcook
Leave a Reply