Happy Raw Wednesday, everyone!
While it would be a lie to say that I’m all better, I’m on the mend. And my friend Ilia over at Bonobos has been helping me replenish with lots of coconut shakes. Young coconut meat and water is an incredible healing food: it’s full of electrolytes and potassium (hence ideal for coping with dehydration after illness), rich in fat (the healthy kind), and also a great source of calcium and other minerals. If I had to pick a miracle food, this would without a doubt be it.
So it’s about high time I showed you all how to open these babies! Welcome to your first raw tutorial, guys.
How to Open a Young Coconut
First, a word about finding young coconuts: any Whole Foods market should have them, and any local health food store ought to carry them, too (and if you have a health food store that doesn’t, be assertive: ask if they can keep them in stock!). If you don’t live near one, try a local Asian restaurant or market (a Thai restaurant would be good): you can usually find them there. They’re small, white, and have a pointy top.
Once you get home, assemble your tools:
1) A flat surface
2) A cleaver
If you do NOT have a cleaver, do not despair: you can use a really large kitchen knife with a “heel” too. It would look something like this:
Step 1:
Trim away some of the exterior flesh of the coconut by working your knife around the point. The idea is to make the top a little bit flatter, like so:
See? The top is less pointy now.
Step 2:
Put your non-cleaver hand behind your back. This is an important precaution! Cleaver accidents are no fun (I would imagine). Next, gently tap the surface of the coconut. You’ll be able to hear where it’s a bit “hollow” sounding. You want to aim your knife blows in this area. You’ll be making four cuts, in a square shape, so aim your cleaver for one side of the top area. Lift the cleaver, and administer the blow! Like so:
Step 3: Continue your blows so that you’ve cut away a square shape on top.
Step 4: Take a large kitchen knife and cut through any spots that the cleaver missed, so that the square comes loose
And
Step 5: Peel away the top. The coconut will be full of pure, delicious, hydrating coconut water.
You’ll want to save this, so pour it into a container. Then, you can enjoy the coconut meat! Simple scrape it away with a spoon: it should be very easy to scoop out.
Use this amazing meat in soups, in raw puddings (you can blend it with coco powder, dates, and a drizzle of water for an awesome coco-choco pudding), slice it in strips to put in Asian-inspired dishes or wraps, whatever! No matter how you eat this stuff, it’s a nutritional powerhouse, and it has a mild, delicious flavor.
On that note, I can’t wait to hear more about your Raw Wednesday adventures! Keep me posted!! And check back tonight or tomorrow morning for news about Jenna’s and my first Raw Wednesday giveaway, please!
xo
Wow, Gena, we must be on the same wavelength or something because I just finished opening my first young coconut for raw Wednesday! And the entire time I was thinking…there’s GOT to be an easier way to do this! Thanks for the tutorial
P.S. I made your coconut shake and it’s delish
So happy you liked it, Ryan!
Great tutorial! When I find a thai young coconut, I’ll come back to this post
LOL I take I drill to mine. I have a “young coconut” drill bit I use lol! maybe I should try out the normal method.
Thanks for the tutorial! I have been dying to try a coconut!!
My raw Wednesday wasn’t as successful this time =( I tried a raw oat breakfast but it didn’t work out the way I hoped. Do you have a favorite raw grain breakfast? I’m hoping for a good recipe!
Hey Courtney!
I typically soak raw oat groats for a few days, changing water, then whip them up with agave and cinnamon in the food processor. OR I soak buckwheat groats and dehydrate them (you can do this in an oven set on low temperature) till they turn crispy like rice krispies. OR I take the easy route, and buy raw granola, like Lydia’s brand, and eat it with almond milk. YUM.
Gena
Thanks Gena! I still am afraid I will lose a limb, though!
Take the plunge, Sarah! You’ll be OK!
I have been on the look out for a young coconut but have not been able to get one. The flesh looks so tasty!
ooh i love seeing these tutorials
Hey thanks for this! I have a question–actually two–1. Is salsa considered raw? and 2. Is cinnamon considered raw? I was pretty sure they were–but I am totally clueless when it comes to this stuff. Thanks so much!
<3 jess
xoxo
Hey Jess!
Salsa should be raw, yes. I’m actually not 100% sure if cinnamon is, but in any case, I wouldn’t worry about it! I tend not to stress about whether or nice my spices are raw, though I do buy organic
Thank you so much for coming up with this challenge, it’s so great. I had raw tofu in romaine wraps for dinner today, they were absolutely amazing. (Uncooked tofu is considered raw right, they don’t cook it beforehand or anything?). My raw snack is cheating a tiny bit, it’s a larabar.
In India, you can get young coconuts on every corner, it’s amazing, but over there they haven’t removed most of the skin first, so they are this beautiful green colour. Young coconuts are amazing, thank you for this tutorial.
Hey Aisha,
Sadly, raw tofu isn’t raw at all! It’s actually pretty heavily processed. It’s made from curdled soymilk, which in turn is make from cooking soybeans (soaking, boiling, grinding, and straining). This is one of the reasons I don’t eat tofu. But I think that, along with a big raw salad, the meal definitely qualifies as “raw-ish”, which is totally great!!
Gena
Great tutorial, but what is the difference between the young coconut that are white and pointy and the brown hairy coconuts at a conventional store. Aren’t they just as fresh a product? Why don’t I see them in the blogosphere? I was going to buy one and then #1 I didn’t know how to open it, and #2 I wondered what was “wrong” with these type of coconuts.
Lindsay,
People like young coconuts because the flesh is softer: mature coconuts yield much harder flesh (that’s where shredded coconut comes from) and are very hard to open! But both are full of nutrition.
Gena
Ah-ha! The pictures really help! For starters, I never even thought about those white pointy coconuts as being what I was looking for. I thought I’d need to buy one of those brown hairy ones. Good to know. It looks far less intimidating without the hair.
That is a much better idea that the way I was doing it before….I ruined my nice knife trying to hack it open. For a regular coconut I employ the concrete steps outside our apt. and hit it hard against one….seems to work pretty well, but I always get odd looks
Wow. That is intense, Abbie. I am totally impressed that you crack the mature ones open!
Thank you
I can’t tell you how much it helps to have the visual!
I don’t know why, but I found the whole thing intimidating so I just ignored them, but so many yummy recipes call for themand now I know what the heck to do. Yeah.
Hooray!
Wow, thanks for this tutorial! It’s really informative. I’ve seen these at Whole Foods and I was curious about them, but was always intimidated by the prep work! The pictures really help. Next time I’m at the store, I’ll try to pick one up
Let me know how it goes, Anne!!
LOVE THAI COCONUTS!!! I make my husband open them for me in the morning, he just loves doing it!! Haha! Maybe now I can show him how it’s done!
Thanks so much for the tutorial. Today (as part of my two raw meals and one raw snack) I tried pea shoots for the first time - and now I’m addicted. I’m really happy to have found them locally grown!
So glad, Kristin! I love them too.
I want to try a young coconut quite badly, but they are no where to be found in my area. Someday!
Great info. I’ve seen them in the store so many times, but short of putting an axe to it, I had no idea how to get into one of those things! ha ha.
Raw snacks were my homemade Larabars and raw soybean hummus with fennel. Since the Excalibur arrived as scheduled, I was able to make my very first Raw Pizza! Totally messy, but totally delish! I seasoned a bunch of fresh veggies and let them marinate in the dehydrator for a short bit. I piled them on, and I have to say that it was a great and tasty experiment.
Gena, quick question…If you had just one Raw restaurant to recommend (in NYC), which would it be? My B-day is in July, and I’ve asked my husband to take me for a Raw dinner. Note, he’s not “Raw”, vegan, or vegetarian, so he’s already telling me that he’s going to have to grab a hot dog before we eat!
Also, I’m deathly allergic to garlic (throat swells up and the whole thing gets ugly), so I need some place that is accomodating to that sort of issue. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks - Nancy
Sounds like an awesome day of eats, Nancy.
I would definitely recommend Pure Food and Wine. For a fancy, special meal, I definitely consider it the best raw dining in NYC (Caravan of Dreams and Quintessence are very close seconds!). And warn your boyfriend: it is surprisingly filling! I have gone on dates at Pure where my date was making the same hot dog remark, and he left stuffed!!
Now I just have to find those coconuts! Sounds SO good!
hey gena! i chose lunch again as a raw meal. i wasn’t too hungry so i made a beet salad (grated beets, lemon juice, chopped mint, salt and pepper), sliced zucchini and avocado. i really like the mid day raw eating–i feel like it keeps me energized until the evening.
thanks for the tutorial–i can’t wait to try it. or have jonathan try it…
It looks totally awesome, Meagan! Thanks for sharing!!
wow that was a really great tutorial!!
I think my husband would hide in terror if he ever saw me try to wield a clever!
I made Ani’s raw donut holes yesterday - SOOO good! Hubby isn’t a fan, but that just means more for me. Do you think they’ll be OK in the freezer? (I keep my sweets in the freezer so I’m not tempted to gorge on them before they go bad)
Also, I’m hoping its OK if I do my Raw Wednesday on Thursday - I meant to have a raw dinner tonight, but then company stopped over and I didn’t get to go to the grocery store to pick up the last few ingredients - Ani’s almond-ginger sushi. I’ll be blogging about them and the donut holes tomorrow!
This is very apropos, Jess! Check out my latest post
For raw Wednesday I tried something new! I cracked open a jar of raw almond butter. I absolutely love it!! I made a snack out of it by putting it on a banana. I have also had two green smoothies today - so good. I feel great
That’s awesome, Steph!
I eat them every week - yum!
great tutorial. unfortunately, i cant be trusted with a cleaver or any massive knife. im way too much of a klutz.
That coconut looks amazing!
My raw meal was breakfast today. I made a smoothie with 1 cup water, 1.5 frozen bananas, 5 strawberries, 2 hunks of pineapple and a tablespoon of ground flaxseed.
Snack was a key lime pie Larabar because I was on the go today!
All of it was fabulous by the way. The smoothie kept me full for about 2 hours.
I’m excited about this tutorial! I have always seen those coconuts but had no clue how to go about conquering them!! Can you freeze the coconut meat if you can’t use it right away?
For the challenge today I bought TempuRAW for supper (I was moving out of my apartment and all my kitchen stuff was packed away! And since I have been studying for finals up until today I had no time to make something in advance) and had raw hummus (I sprouted my own chickpeas!) and carrots for a snack. Heres my post about it:
http://kitchenpanda.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/even-more-exhausted/
Coconuts are anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial. I was totally serious yesterday when I referred to coconut water as the Magic Elixir of Life. Here’s a wonderful article for your readers, written by Dr. Klamath on the Benefits of Coconut Water.
For folks who can’t readily find young Thai coconuts (or are afraid of cleavers), both ZICO and O.N.E. make 100% pure coconut water in lil’ juice boxes.
Thank you for the helpful post. Not that I will crack open my own cocnut, but I found it interesting. I also liked your dehydrator tips.
Anyway, I do have a comment about the nutrition information you provided for the coconut. I found that 1 cup of raw coconut is actually a weak source of calcium, providing only 1% of the RDA. Also, could you comment about coconut (1 cup provides 24 g. of saturated fat) providing healthy fat? It’s actually controversial. I know that the health food community considers it healthy, but the medical community considers the fat unhealthy. In fact, I recently attended a nutrition conference where coconut fats were discussed as non-healthy fats. Thanks!
Mandy,
It’s extremely hard to find totally reliable information on the nutritional content of these, but I was lucky to once go see a few cartons of these as they were shipped, and the company that shipped them to the US had actually done regular USDA nutritional info for them. It listed the calcium for one whole coconut–water and flesh–at 17% of the RDA daily allowance.
As for the saturated fat: my understanding is that the flesh of the coconut is similar in content and structure to the fat of coconut oil, so for our purposes I am going to discuss them interchangeably. There is indeed much controversy here, but my take is that the medium-chain fatty acids of coconuts (oil and flesh) is healthy, and that these fats are relatively unique among fats. Indigenous populations have been eating these for years with no ill effects; my personal belief is that it is animal or hydrogenated fats that we need to be wary of. It is crucial, though, to only purchase virgin coconut oil–not anything that’s been hydrogenated.
You can refer to this article: http://www.naturalnews.com/022313.html
Naturally, you are free to draw your own conclusions. You’ll find that I rarely fall into line with the mainstream medical community, but it’s anyone’s prerogative to disagree. And many do.
Gena
Great tutorial!! Any chance to play with a cleaver that doesn’t include meat is ok by me! I’m going to go look for one of these young ‘nuts this week.
Wow! I want to try this, it looks and sounds so great!
Hi Gena!
Glad to hear you’re on the mend
I smiled when I read this post as I have never opened a coconut by myself, I have always (speaks quietly) asked Andy to do it. However our local store have stopped carrying them now. Luckily when we move back to London we will have a Whole Foods there. I am most excited!
~ Emily.
very kewl!! now i want to get one
i was worried about getting into it!
XVQx8f jfkntkexkmqk, [url=http://mnyfvlathzcf.com/]mnyfvlathzcf[/url], [link=http://mxlsiqdkuhxd.com/]mxlsiqdkuhxd[/link], http://onvezsgkemyh.com/
How do you select a young coconut that has good meat? Some of them have almost no meat, just a film.
Hi Pedro - did you get an answer to your question? I have been eating/drinking young coconuts for years and it’s been hit or miss with both the quality of the water and the amount of milk. My latest one had a lot of clear but sour water and absolutely no meat! But when I find one with sweet, flavorful water and enough meat to scoop out, it’s heavenly! Would love to improve my chances of success more often.
Any advice from anyone? Thanks! =)
Hello there,
Just wanted to let you know that the coconut that you are eating has been bleached many times in toxic chemicals. Did you know that? I have encountered the same problem and I don’t know what to do about it….I guess I am going to have to order the coconuts online.
http://www.rawguru.com/store/raw-food/certified_organic_young_coconuts.html
Just to let you guys know, that the coconut you are opening in the picture is a white Thai coconut, and it’s not organic. Does anybody know about this? And where can I find young organic coconuts?
[...] that was a valid phobia, but as it turns out, it was unwarranted. All I had to do was pull up a trusty coconut tutorial, place one hand firmly behind my back, and hope that my hand-eye coordination had improved since [...]
[...] followed Gena’s instructions, chopping off the pointy bit and whacking out a square (or circle?) on [...]
[...] that was a valid phobia, but as it turns out, it was unwarranted. All I had to do was pull up a trusty coconut tutorial, place one hand firmly behind my back, and hope that my hand-eye coordination had improved since [...]
thank you so much for this tutorial!! i was so interested in it when you first published, but now i can truly appreciate your instructions - i bought my first young coconut tonight and made diana’s raw ice cream. i love that i had both of your blogs open as my “bibles”