Go with the Flow

Life is like a coconut....you never know what you are going to get!

This morning I wanted to have one of my longtime favorite recipes, Blueberry-Lemon Mousse by angie on gone raw. It is a delicious blend of blueberries, coconut(or cashews), lemon, sweetener, and banana. I got hooked on this recipe quite a while ago, and I was craving it today:)

First up...opening the coconut. Click here for my post on opening Thai coconuts if you would like to see how I usually open them.

Today I took a little short cut to open the coconut, I usually spill a little of the precious water this way, which I did today:)

This method starts the same way, by removing some husk to expose the shell. Then I just whack around the top of the coconut where it will open easily with the inside point of the cleaver.

Once I can pry open the coconut a little, I set it on top of a glass to drain the water.

After draining, I open the top all the way to get the meat out. As you can see, the shell of the coconut gets chipped by whacking it. This usually results in a few fragments of shell in the water and meat.

Now, this is the point where you get to see what is inside:)

I still can't figure out how to pick a good coconut, but have never gotten a bad one somehow! I buy them at a small Asian market, and they usually carry the 'Best' brand.

Most times they look fresh and white with no soft spots or mold. The few times they did not look so good, the nice people in the store were happy to bring out a fresh case to pick from:) I must say this brand has never dissapointed me! The only difference I see is in the thickness of the meat. Today the coconut had very thick meat!

I was able to pull out all of the meat by hand. There was more than enough for the recipe.

I love when the meat is so thick and firm. This thick, slightly rubbery meat probably means the coconut is more mature than the ones with the jelly-like meat.

It also makes a great snack...so I tasted a little...then a little more. You can guess what happened next, or should I say didn't happen.

I ate about half, and put the rest in the fridge. I loved it too much to blend it up, so I just savored it as it was:)

I will try to make the yummy mousse another day:)

How to open a young Thai coconut

There are many ways to open these young coconuts. The following method is great if you are opening a coconut for the first time. You will need a cutting board and a cleaver.














holding the coconut firmly on its side, make five or six slices in the husk with the cleaver held at a 45 degree angle pointing towards the point of the coconut. rotate the coconut for each cut.













the entire point of the husk should come off in a flower shaped piece. You may need to remove a little more at the end to expose the tip of the coconut shell.













hold the coconut firmly on its side and sharply whack the tip with the cleaver about 1/2 an inch from the end. as soon as you enter the shell, try to turn the coconut upright so not to lose the precious water. pry off the rest of the tip using the cleaver.













at this point, drink the water with a straw or empty it into a container for use in recipes. you may have very thick meat at the tip, in which case you must pierce the meat to empty the water.






















after emptying the water, return coconut to its side and firmly hold it while making a slice with the cleaver starting at the cut edge,but now hold the cleaver at a slight angle leaning into the coconut. rotate the coconut as you cut. this will open a larger hole so the meat can be easily removed.














use a spoon to scoop out all the meat. I usually get between 3/4 and 1 cup of meat.
many times the meat can be pulled out by hand if you can get a finger between the shell and the meat:)

There are many videos (on you-tube) about the opening of these coconuts , and this site offers a similar method. Here is a site that uses a knife.

My favorite way to enjoy young coconuts is just as they are! Drink the water, and simply eat the meat. Sometimes I include them in smoothies, or make a simple pudding/yogurt by blending the meat of 1 coconut with the juice and zest of 1 organic lemon, any sweetener like soft dates or agave, the seeds from 1 or 2 inches of a vanilla bean, and a tablespoon of coconut oil. This is a non-cultured yogurt, however I believe it can be cultured by adding the powder from a probiotic capsule as described in this link.