How to Open and Drink (Eat) a Coconut

The primitive Malenesians ate coconuts as one of their main staples and only had 0.3% of tooth decay. This was one of the lowest in the groups. And up until about a month ago, I knew nothing about coconuts. I mean I knew about coconut oil for teeth and skin, but nothing about the actual coconut itself. And? They’re delicious.

The coconut water tastes like slightly sweetened water with a kick. Don’t know how else to explain it so just try it and see for yourself. Unless you’re my son. Then don’t touch it. He’s deathly allergic. Or so he’s convinced. It’s okay, more for me.

There are three grooves at the end of a coconut and you want to find the softest one. This is done by trial and error. Just take the screwdriver and hammer down on each one. You’ll know if you hit the wrong one because the screwdriver won’t go anywhere. Once you hit the right one, it’s smooth sailing from there on out. Tre got lucky today and hit it on the first try.

Which brings me to the hand model in today’s photos. Not me. That’s Tre. I have scary hands that are more comfortable behind the camera. Trust me.

The next part is perfect on a day when you need to vent. Vent on those coconuts. Take your hammer and wallop them. Once open, dig out the coconut meat. You can eat it if you want at this point but we find it much sweeter after baking it for a few hours. We first grate it with a cheese grater and then pop it in the oven for a couple of hours or until dry.

For the record, there is no one way of preparing coconuts. This is simply our self-taught way of doing it. And I almost forgot. You might notice some pinkish-redness on the outside of the coconut meat between the shell. Not to worry, this is just oxidation. It’s the same thing that happens to the flesh of the apple when exposed to air. It turns brown. Well, coconuts turn pink.

Ingredients

2 coconuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Take a screwdriver and hammer it into one of the three grooves at the top of the coconut.

After making the hole, pour out coconut water into a glass.

Line a mesh colander with a coffee filter and strain coconut water.

Take a hammer and crack open coconut shell.

Remove coconut meat from shell with a dull knife and use a grater to shred the meat.

Spread evenly on a stainless steel pan and bake for 2 hours or until dry.