Coconut is a great alternative to tofu (which is almost as bad as cattle rearing in terms of soil erosion and clear cutting of forests). You can use coconut in so many ways. I love it raw of course in green salads, fruit salads, coconut pouridge, and on its own. But if you fry it up in a pan with a little olive oil and sea salt the flavour is incredible! Add it to your pasta dishes, rice dishes, salads, stir-fries and in anything you can think of. Even my friends who eat meat love it and make it for themselves. You don't have to be afraid of coconuts anymore because if you look below I will show you how to open one!
How to open a coconut and get all the "meat" out the EASY WAY!
Drain the water out by digging a knife into the softest black spot at the top of the coconut (there are 3, but one is soft). Then use a hammer to repeatedly hit the center of the coconut while turning it in your hand. It will crack down the center. Use a pear knife to cut little pieces out of the nut. You do this by pressing (like in the picture) down into the pulp of the coconut all the way, and then flicking the knife to one side which will pry the piece loose. If you are doing it right it will only take you a couple of minutes to get the whole thing out!
2 comments:
Is it supposed to get soft when you cook it?
You can eat the brown skin of the coconut- it's kind of like the skin on a peanut- pretty harmless :)
When you sautee it you will find that it gets a more nutty, rich flavour, and becomes a little less had and crunchy (not really soft)- it's hard to describe the texture, but it's very enjoyable. Of course raw coconut is better for you, but this is just something different.
Don't use baby green coconuts with the thin, more jelly-like "meat"- that will not work for this. Just use the brown, hard coconuts that have been husked, like in the photo here- they are most common in grocery shops, and are quite inexpensive :)
I love coconut!
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