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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Buco Salad


















I first heard of Buco Salad on Terri's blog. As she aptly puts it, it's absolutely refreshing and a hit at the barbeque. I was invited to a barbeque party not long ago by a Filipina. She is a PR married to a Singaporean and teaches in Ah Girl's school. Among those invited were fellow Filipinas/Filipinos who are working here as domestic helpers, engineers, teachers and of course, Singaporeans like me. Eversince I saw the recipe that Terri has put up (practically drooling at all her food pics), I have been wanting to try it. What detered me was the coconut scrapper. I couldn't find it anywhere here in Singapore. I am not sure if the scrapper is available at Lucky Plaza though.

So I told my helper about the scrapper thingy and she came up with this. I think it's brilliant!


















She said she used to make this when the scrapper was not available. Just a piece of bamboo, metal strips cut out from a condensed milk tin and raffia string, you have a coconut scrapper! Sometimes we are just too reliant on gadgets. But having said that, I have asked my helper's sister to bring 1 along when she arrives here in December. Ahah. With the scrapper problem solved, nothing beats bringing Buco Salad to a Filipina party. In case you are wondering, Buco is coconut in Tagalog.

I couldn't find Nata de Coco that are in bigger chunks. I know that will give the salad a better texture. Instead, I got hold of a 1kg packet of Nata de Coco bite-size bits swimming in light syrup. I forgot the weigh the Nata de Coco after draining. Tsk. The wet market near my place is only selling old coconuts. I got those pretty-young-but not-too-young coconuts from Shop 'N' Save. Below is the recipe adapted from Terri's Marylou's Buco Salad. It is a rather forgiving recipe so you don't have to bee too particular about the measurement.

Buco Salad
Ingredients
4 Coconuts, hacked open and scrape flesh
1 can 850g Fruit Cocktail, drained
1 Packet 1 kg Nata de Coco in light syrup, drained (I bought Strawberry Flavour for its pink colour)
1 Cup Whipping Cream
3 Tbsp Condensed Milk
1/8 Tsp Rose Essence

Method
Toss everything together in a large bowl.

*Note : Remember to retain the coconut water for consumption, refreshing for a hot day! Do not scrape too deep into the coconut flesh or you will get pieces of husk attached.

** Note : Terri mentioned that Tropical Fruit Cocktail should not be used as there is too much soft papaya.

***Buco salad should be served cold. Best prepared the night before and freeze. Thaw before serving. Alternatively, make it a few hours before the party and freeze it.

Before the party was over, the salad was gone. That's how good it is. Give it a try!

10 comments:

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

hey, u did it n not only tt, u have a home-made scraper! wow! n i didn't know tt buco means coconut...:)

Family First said...

Never seen or eaten this buco salad before .. will surely try it. surely its very sweet right?

Rei said...

Terri : Thanks for sharing the recipe! :)

Family First : Yes, it's sweet but not overly sweet.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Did you use dairy whipping Cream?
No need to whip up first?

Rei said...

Anonymous : Yes it is dairy whipping cream. There is no need to whip it up. :)

Anonymous said...

HI Rei

this salad looks delicious and i have a bbq coming up in 2 wks' time. thinking of making this, but don't have the scraper. do u think i can use a spoon to scrape out the coconut, then cut it into strips with a knife? also, i have never bought a coconut before. can u advise what should i be looking out for in order to choose the right coconut for this dessert? finally, for the whipping cream, can i use Bulla pure cream or the Nestle canned cream instead?

sorry for so many questions...
thks
octopusmum

Rei said...

Octopusmum : It is alright to use a spoon to scoop the flesh out and cut it into strips. Erm.. for selection of coconuts, I'm really not sure. The wet markets usually only have old coconuts. So try looking at supermarkets where they sell young coconuts. Chances are; they are not 'that' young anyway. :p You can use either type of cream. My helper used Nestle in Philippines as it is easily available. I used 'President' brand whipping cream when I did this. HTH.

Anonymous said...

HI Rei

thks for replying

guess what, i just printed out a list of filipino shops in lucky plaza and planning to call them to see if they have the scraper! can see how determined i am to make this dessert :) more questions, there are 16 of us including 3 kids, how many coconuts do u think is juz nice for us? also, can i omit the rose essence or replace it with vanilla essence instead?
hope u don't mind my questions...

regards
octopusmum

Rei said...

Octopusmum : Wow! Do tell me if the shops carry the scrapper. You may want to triple the recipe. If you do not want to use rose essence, just omit it totally. You don't have to add vanilla essence. :)

Anonymous said...

i called a few of the shops in Lucky Plaza. One of the ladies who answered the phone said that she is also looking for the scraper to make Buco Salad and that the scraper may only be available back in Philippines ! after speaking to her, i decided to stop calling for the apparent reason...now i am thinking of asking my neighbour's helper who is filipino whether she happens to have that scraper...last resort is to scrape using spoon , then use a scissors to cut it...wah, triple the recipe means i need 12 coconuts! that's a lot of coconuts to scrape. LOL .i thought i should reduce the recipe as i was under the impression that yours is a much bigger party. perhaps i should just double it...
thks
regards
octopusmum