Monday, January 27th, 2014

Why did it take me this long to figure out how to crack open a coconut?

P1290344It’s wonderful to see coconut becoming such an ascending superstar in the food world (and by ascending I mean, we the general Westernized hoi-poloi are just cluing in, whereas much of the world population have known this for generations). Dried coconut, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut oil…is there anything this wonder fruit (or rather a drupe if you’re going to be technical) cannot cure or do? The other day, two of my girlfriends came over for lunch, and after a group-whine about how dry our skin had become because of polar vortexes and our radiators cranking out dry steam heat, we decided to take the advice of numerous natural beauty experts and grabbed some coconut oil I had in the fridge and started slathering the stuff all over our faces and elbows. My friend Felicia said she went through the rest of the afternoon happily smooth and smelling like a Piña Colada. Besides using coconut oil for cooking, baking and moisturizing, and coconut milk for curries, I love adding coconut water to smoothies (sometimes alone, with chunks of fresh pineapple, frozen mango and banana, and a squeeze of lime juice; sometimes along with almond milk to blend with dates, strawberries, blueberries, and a frozen banana). But as you may well know, coconut water is on the pricey side…worth it, but definitely a bit of a splurge. That’s why I’m thrilled that I finally learned how to open up my own coconut. Now, not only can I get fresh coconut water, but also all of the lovely meat inside, which takes smoothies to a whole new level of creaminess and deliciousness. Here is a Ball jar with the scraped out coconut meat from one coconut. It ended up being enough for about two batches of smoothies…

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If you go to many supermarkets or ethnic grocery stores, you will see coconuts (with the green outer layer removed) lined up on a shelf, usually the creamy white interior shell exposed and wrapped in plastic wrap (I learned there’s a reason for this…sometimes coconuts are treated with a solution to keep them white, so make sure you rinse them well before cutting them open or keep the wrapping on so the solution doesn’t mix into the coconut water when you pour it out). I used to pass by these coconut displays all the time, but during a recent visit to HMart, I finally decided to pick one up. I thought that I’d figure out how to break the sucker open when I got home, and with the help of my trusty twentysomething adviser, Nichole, we found lots of great how-to videos on the interweb, including THIS one. Luckily a drill or sharp rock wasn’t required, but after some not-quite-smart hacking with a sharp knife, I noticed a thin perforated line at the top of the coconut…someone had already been courteous enough to basically create a lid, so all we had to do was stick a knife in and wedge it open, revealing the water and coconut meat within. So long story short LOOK FOR THE LINE ON THE TOP.

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After pouring out the water, I got a metal spoon and scraped out all of the meat, a task similar to gutting a small pumpkin for carving but more enjoyable because coconut meat is more supple and not stringy like a squash.

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As for the leftover empty coconut, I haven’t figured out the best way to dispose of it, but you can always pretend you’re on an episode of Gilligan’s Island and use it as tropical beverage container. Just pour in your smoothie, a straw, perhaps a jaunty little paper umbrella, and enjoy!