Su Boregi (Water Borek)

When it is served with Turkish tea or plain yogurt drink, su boregi makes a perfect breakfast or lunch.

We know the name water borek sounds weird but it has a reason for sure. What gives its name is one of the steps of the recipe instructions. Homemade phyllo sheets are cooked in simmering water and then stuffed and baked.

That’s why it’s called su boregi (Water Borek). It is the best when you use homemade phyllo sheets, so it’s better if you can get help from someone to make Turkish su boregi.

Ingredients For Turkish Su Boregi

• Borek Filling: In Turkish cuisine you can make borek filling with anything you like. From ground beef to cheese and vegetables. All of these are very customizable. However, su böregi filling is always with cheese like feta cheese. If you can’t find feta or feta crumbles, use a crumbly cheese that doesn’t melt when baked. Optionally, you can combine the cheese with parsley. Besides cheese and parsley, we need melted butter to spread on the layers of phyllo sheets.
• Dough: To make the phyllo sheets is very similar to making pasta without machine. We need flour, milk and eggs for the dough. It won’t be very soft due to the eggs. 
• To Cook the Phyllo Sheets: We need boiling water in a pot, cold water in a large bowl, salt and oil.
• For the golden top: Just like when making easy phyllo borek, we need a mixture of egg, olive oil and yogurt. If you don’t have yogurt on hand, you can use milk instead. 

How To Make Turkish Water Borek

Make The Filling 

Combine feta cheese and chopped parsley in a bowl and put it aside. Also, keep the melted butter in another bowl on the side.

Make The Phyllo Sheets

Combine flour, milk and eggs in a large bowl. Knead it well either with your hands or in your stand mixer. Add little flour if necessary. It won’t be a soft dough.

Now transfer the dough on the counter, roll it into a log and cut it into 10 balls. Cover them with a damp kitchen towel so that they don’t dry when you are rolling them out one by one.

Dust the counter with a little flour each time you roll out a dough ball. Stack the phyllo sheets on the counter.

Make sure you sprinkle a generous amount of flour between each so that they don’t stick. Brush a baking sheet with oil or use a cooking spray. Place an uncooked phyllo sheet in the baking sheet as the bottom of your water borek. Then cook the remaining phyllo sheets. Read on to learn how.

Related: How To Make Phyllo Dough Sheets

Cook The Phyllo Sheets In Simmering Water

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water and put it aside. With the help of a thin rolling pin, take the phyllo sheet to the pot and drop it into the simmering water. Keep it there for 2 minutes and take it out with a large slotted spoon. Transfer it into the cold water to stop cooking. Keep it there for a few seconds and then transfer it on a clean kitchen towel. Repeat the same steps for the remaining phyllo sheets. 

Assemble The Börek

Remember the first phyllo sheet you place uncooked in the baking sheet? Brush the top of it with melted butter. Now place a cooked phyllo sheet on that first one. Brush it with melted butter too. Repeat with 3 more phyllo sheets. Spread the cheese mixture on the fifth phyllo sheet. Place the 6th phyllo sheet on it. Brush it with melted butter and repeat with the remaining sheets. 

In another bow, whisk together the egg, yogurt and olive oil. Spread this mixture on the top sheet generously. And finally bake it in a preheated oven at 350F/180C. for about 40 minutes or until golden. Cut it into squares and serve.

More Turkish Pastries

• Sigara Borek
• Spinach and Cheese Borek
• Gozleme
• Simit
• Pogaca
• Lavash Bread

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