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Fresh Coconut


shogun

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What are you referring to and, WHAT BROUGHT THIS ON????? :lol:
Ah, just fixing to make some coconut rice pudding, and coconut rum. Whole coconuts are a pain to work with. The punchline here is I've had the blasted things for at least two weeks, as I was originally planning to make the rum for my sister when she was home from school. I don't know if they go bad or not, or lose flavor, so it's possible they're no better than bagged coconut from the store.
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Ah, just fixing to make some coconut rice pudding, and coconut rum. Whole coconuts are a pain to work with. The punchline here is I've had the blasted things for at least two weeks, as I was originally planning to make the rum for my sister when she was home from school. I don't know if they go bad or not, or lose flavor, so it's possible they're no better than bagged coconut from the store.
OK. I went to the trouble of buying a whole coconut, heating it up in the oven, smacking it with a hammer, peeling the damn thing, and then carefully "shaving" pieces over green beans, according to some recipe in Epicurious. My BELOVED husband asked me, "Are you trying to poison me, or what?" Turns out that Dame Edna doesn't consider coconut, in any of its forms, edible. Who knew?

What can one do? BTW: The non-sweetened dried coconut you can get in Health Food Stores is tasteless. I really don't know what this stuff is for. However, the sweetened, bagged or canned, stuff is highly useful. Maybe more useful than fooling with a whole coconut. Maybe some of our more

"tropical" members can weigh in on this subject. Except, I don't think this whole thing belongs in "On a Whim . . . " Just sayin'.

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Ah, just fixing to make some coconut rice pudding, and coconut rum. Whole coconuts are a pain to work with. The punchline here is I've had the blasted things for at least two weeks, as I was originally planning to make the rum for my sister when she was home from school. I don't know if they go bad or not, or lose flavor, so it's possible they're no better than bagged coconut from the store.

I also used to wonder if fresh coconut was worth it, but I tried this recipe with both dried and with fresh coconut and there was quite a noticable difference.

In my somewhat limited experience, as long as the coconuts have not mildewed or totally dried out inside, they seem not too suffer too much of a decline in quality. Even if they've sat on your kitchen counter for three months. :lol::unsure:

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If a coconut has gone bad, when you shake it you won't hear anything sloshing inside.

Even if it sloshes it still might not be fresh, but this is not hard to discern.

I use a hammer to whack the tip of a Phillips head screwdriver into the soft eye of the coconut. Yes, these are kitchen tools. Only one of the three eyes is soft. Upend it over a glass and let the water glug out. Goes faster if you also whack a hole into one of the hard eyes.

If it's no good, it smells rancid. If it smells good, it is good.

I wish we could get nice fresh young coconuts, these have softer shells and the meat is very soft. I love these.

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A few days ago is was in a Super H (in Atlanta in this case) and found a cream colored coconut which was described as, logically enough, white coconut. It looked interesting--I figured if nothing else it would look great on the counter--food as kitchen decor.

Does anyone know anything more about this thing? I assume it can be treated like any ordinary coconut. It has lots of water inside, which seems good. Meanwhile it does indeed look great sitting on the counter.

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Does anyone know anything more about this thing? I assume it can be treated like any ordinary coconut. It has lots of water inside, which seems good. Meanwhile it does indeed look great sitting on the counter.
If it looks like this, then what you've got is commonly called a 'young coconut'. You see them a lot in SE Asia, where they slice off a bit of the top and then you stick a straw in and drink the water inside (it's pretty refreshing). The meat is a bit more gelatinous than a brown, mature coconut. It's also a bit easier to get out of the shell. I saw an interesting recipe once where the meat was cut into "noodles" and used in a pad thai like dish (the meat does almost have a noodle-like texture).
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If it looks like this, then what you've got is commonly called a 'young coconut'. You see them a lot in SE Asia, where they slice off a bit of the top and then you stick a straw in and drink the water inside (it's pretty refreshing).

I love those things. WF has them occasionally. Also, many SE Asian restaurants have young coconut juice as a drink, even if it isn't on the menu.

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If it looks like this, then what you've got is commonly called a 'young coconut'. You see them a lot in SE Asia, where they slice off a bit of the top and then you stick a straw in and drink the water inside (it's pretty refreshing). The meat is a bit more gelatinous than a brown, mature coconut. It's also a bit easier to get out of the shell. I saw an interesting recipe once where the meat was cut into "noodles" and used in a pad thai like dish (the meat does almost have a noodle-like texture).

No, I know those things, and have had them myself---yes they're good, but they're just regular coconut with the hull cut off into the shape you see. What I have is actually a white coconut, like the normal thing you buy in the store which has rough fibers hanging off the sides and is brown, but this one is cream colored. If it were an egg, this would be a white egg in place of a brown egg. Maybe it's an albino.

I should add it's not shaped like a usual coconut, but is sort of squat, like a turnip upside down.

That's what I love about Super H. Always something new.

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I have to say there is truly no substitue for fresh coconut. I can only speak to chamorro (Guam) food, and in my family and all other self-respecting Chamorro households coconuts are grated with a Kumyu, a metal grater attached to a stool. This tool allows a person to grate the coconut in to small pieces for use in many dishes such as kelaguen manok. I have found them for sale at Phillipino stores in the area, most recently at Manila Oriental store in Bailey's Crossroads.

Here is a pic of a child sitting on a Kumyu grating delicious fresh coconut!

cocmilk.jpg

By the way, the easiest way to open a coconut is with the dull side of a meat cleaver. Rap it around the circumference....It should take no time at all!

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What can one do? Maybe some of our more "tropical" members can weigh in on this subject. Except, I don't think this whole thing belongs in "On a Whim . . . " Just sayin'.
Use the milk as part of a delicious rum drink that you can serve in the half-shell. Stir it up with some cut whole strips of the coconut flesh....kind of like the celery in a bloody mary. But be sure to save yourself many strips and chunks, because (always save the best for last) how else does one get the Nutella out of the jar?
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Has anyone bought one of the "peeled" green coconuts at H Mart or Grand Mart? In theory, you cut off the top and pour out the coconut water direct from the source, then eat the jelly. As an added bonus, they look like little huts.

I bought one at Wegmans in the hope of turning it into the container for a tiki drink. Alas, it defeated me.

The instructions said to split it open down the middle, not cut the top off...

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I bought one at Wegmans in the hope of turning it into the container for a tiki drink. Alas, it defeated me.

The instructions said to split it open down the middle, not cut the top off...

They come with instructions? I've only had them on beaches, freshly cut by fine young entrepreneurs armed with machetes. The last piece to come off is the top, cut crosswise. I'm going to buy one now to see how to get the thing open. Maybe a Dremel tool.

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They come with instructions? I've only had them on beaches, freshly cut by fine young entrepreneurs armed with machetes. The last piece to come off is the top, cut crosswise. I'm going to buy one now to see how to get the thing open. Maybe a Dremel tool.

Use a chisel to cut out a large square (or whichever polygon you prefer). So much easier than trying to use a regular knife.

My dad uses one of those big Chinese cleavers. Sharp corners and such help, but I'm not confident enough in my own coordination to do it. Chisel + hammer is the easiest.

Just make sure the coconut can't move around easily when you're trying to put a hole in the top. A fresh coconut is a terrible thing to waste. You can also refill with water after you drinkt he coconut's natural water, wait a bit, and it'll pick up the flavor of the wonderful flesh...provided you haven't already eaten all that delicious white meat. Mmmmmmm

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My dad uses an old corkscrew to poke two holes in the top at the "eyes" of the coconut, drains the water out, then splits it by taking it outside and using a hammer. When we were in Maui, we were introduced to the machete free "whack it hard on a rock after the water is out" method.

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I spent my junior year in college in Medellin, Colombia, and had a number of side trips to the coast (Cartegena and Santa Marta) and islands off the coast. Lots of experience with green coconuts - you take a huge, probably rusty, machete, lop off an oval slice from the top, exposing the water and jelly, drink the water and scoop out the jelly with the sliced top. If you are lucky, local acquaintances will also teach you how to climb the trees to gather the coconuts. Another way to acquire one is from the women on the beach, holding said machetes, asking you if you want to buy a coconut or pineapple slice. Hard to say no to someone with a machete.

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I spent my junior year in college in Medellin, Colombia, and had a number of side trips to the coast (Cartegena and Santa Marta) and islands off the coast. Lots of experience with green coconuts - you take a huge, probably rusty, machete, lop off an oval slice from the top, exposing the water and jelly, drink the water and scoop out the jelly with the sliced top. If you are lucky, local acquaintances will also teach you how to climb the trees to gather the coconuts. Another way to acquire one is from the women on the beach, holding said machetes, asking you if you want to buy a coconut or pineapple slice. Hard to say no to someone with a machete.

Looking for peeled young coconuts. Any sightings? Especially interested in ones such as these from Frieda's produce that don't require hammers, chisels, machetes, cleavers, or battle axes.
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