Day 9 - Opening a Young Coconut

I didn't have time to do this post on Friday (Day 9 of the 31-Day Challenge) because I spent the day preparing for our trip to the NC mountains. To the best of my recollection, I consumed the following:

1.5 quarts of Green Smoothie (Romaine, Cucumber, Oranges, Grapes, and I can't remember what else!)
A few slices of Watermelon
A few Glazed Sweet Potato Chips
A couple of pieces of Energy Flat Bread with raw Rich Cheddar Cheese
A Banana

That's all I can remember, but I do know that everything I ate was raw.


How to Open a Young Coconut

I had a young coconut in the fridge that I wanted to use up before we left, so I decided, since I had nothing else to do today [lol], I would take photos of how to open one of these puppies.

You'll need a butcher knife and a cutting board, preferably flexible so you can pour the juice that overflows when you first open it into a bowl.


Step 1 - Slice the bark off the top of the coconut in the direction of the knife in the photo. Slice all around the top. Sometimes I find it easier to lay the coconut on its side and slice from the side to the point. Removing the bark off the top makes it easier to pop open the top.

Step 2 - Take the back corner edge of the knife and whack the coconut, working your way around the top center a couple of inches from the point, as indicated in the photos below.



You will be able to tell when the knife penetrates the coconut. Sometimes it will hiss from the pressure being released. Also, if the coconut is really full, the water will leak out. This is why it's good to have a flexible cutting board. It's easier to pour the water into a bowl. You may also want to tilt the coconut over a bowl and let some of the water pour off so it's not so messy when you pop the top.

I usually go around a couple more times to loosen the top of the coconut.

Step 3 - Once you've broken through the coconut, take the tip of the knife and insert it into the coconut and twist the knife in order to pry the top up. If it doesn't pop up easily, whack around the circle a few more times to break it open a bit more. Then pour the rest of the coconut water into the bowl.



Step 4 - To remove the meat inside of the coconut, place a spoon between the shell of the coconut and the meat with the inside of the spoon facing the outside of the coconut. Check out the photo below to understand what I'm trying to say! Then press the spoon down to lift the meat away from the shell. Keep working the meat away from the shell, then scoop out. Don't forget to remove the meat from the top that was removed.



Step 5 - And there you have it! A knife, a spoon, coconut water in a bowl, a pile of coconut meat, an empty coconut and a flexible cutting board. It's really easy once you've opened a few coconuts.