When I walk into a grocery store, I like to challenge myself to pick out an ingredient I’ve never worked with and figure out how to use it. A few years ago, I picked up a Thai young coconut, and with the help of my mother and dear old YouTube, I discovered that these wonderful fruits are actually quite simple to use in a coconut smoothie.
Today I am passing on my knowledge to the Spoon community in hopes that the rest of you will challenge yourselves to try something new as well!
When you open a Thai young coconut, you’ll find two edible features inside: the water and the meat. Many of you probably don’t realize that the bottled coconut water you buy actually comes from the liquid inside Thai young coconuts. This means that if you want to crack one open and just stick a straw in, you can! It’s delicious, but I have a different favorite way to consume these fruits.
I like to blend the water with the coconut meat. It creates the most easy and refreshing coconut smoothie you could ever imagine, and you can poor it back into the coconut shell, stick a straw in it, and feel like you’re on a tropical vacation.
It’s time to kick off summer the right way. The next time you’re in a grocery store, fearlessly pick up a Thai young coconut and bring it home for a kitchen adventure. Note, you’ll want to be careful by getting your knife ready and following my simple steps on how to open a coconut with ease (if only so you don’t end up chopping off a finger). Good luck!
Coconut Smoothie
Ingredients
Instructions
Slice chunks off the top of the coconut, starting from the point and moving the knife downwards. Rotate until the entire top has been thinned down.
Use the heel of the knife to pound the around the top of the coconut in a circle. Strike the coconut with a lot of force and keep going until you’ve broken through. Peel back the top of the coconut to reveal the coconut water.
Strain the coconut water into a blender to remove any woody chunks from the water.
Scoop out the coconut meat with a spoon until the coconut is all cleaned out. You will get some brown bits with the meat, but don’t worry, you’ll clean these off.
Using a knife, a spoon, and your fingers, slice and pick away the brown bits on the coconut meat. When you’ve cleared most of it off, give your coconut meat a quick rinse under water to get rid of any last little pieces.
Poor the meat into the blender with the water. Blend until smooth.
Poor the liquid back into the empty coconut shell and enjoy with a straw!