In Kuching, the capital city of the Sarawak state of Malaysia, there is small and cozy cafe called Indah House Kuching. This cafe hosts Sarawak cuisine cooking classes. In the full experience of this class, you explore a local market, shop for food ingredients and then learn how to cook authentic Malaysian recipes. In this article and video, we narrow in on one of Southeast Asia's everyday treats - the coconut!
In this portion of the Indah House Kuching Cooking Class, we learn and practice all the steps to cracking open and enjoying various types of coconuts!
Mature Coconuts / Brown
Step 1: Remove the husk!
The coconut husk is called a coir. It's a versatile substance. Some popular uses for the coir are fertilizer, rope making and packaging. Cedric removed the husk in this video with a butcher knife. He chopped off the coir at an angle to loosen it, then ripped it off!
Step: 2: Crack open the coconut!
Cedric broke open the coconut by holding it with one hand and hitting it with the backside of a butcher knife. He hit it a couple times and heard the tell-tale sound of the hollow cracking. Suddenly the juices started to flow out! You can also do this with a nail and hammer.
Step 3: Grate/shred the meat out of the coconut!
Mature, brown coconuts have lots of delicious coconut meat inside of them. Take this meat out by scooping or scraping. At the cooking class, we used a restaurant sized electronic grating machine. Our teacher helped us hold the coconut very steady as the machine whirled off the yummy coconut meat into shreds. I found a small home-sized coconut machine on Amazon that looks less intimidating than the one we used!
Step 4: Cook it or eat it raw!
We were so eager to try the fresh coconut meat in this video that we all tried it raw! It was delicious! We then cooked it into our Malaysian meals at the cooking class. You can use the shredding to make all kinds of coconut foods and products such as coconut milk and coconut oil.
Young Coconuts / Green
Step 1: Chop off a hole at the top and pour out majority of water
Our cooking teacher used a machete to chop off the very top of the coconut. She then poured out crystal clear coconut water into a tub for us to enjoy!
Step 2 : Chop coconut in half and pour remaining water.
There was still some coconut water trapped inside so our teacher used the machete to chop the coconut in half. We were afraid for her fingers, as they were very near to blade, but alas they stayed intact.
Step 3: Drink coconut water
Green coconuts are young and have fresh water. Brown coconuts are mature and have more meat but stale water. If you are traveling and order coconut water on the beach, make sure they bring you back a lime green colored coconut.
Have You Ever Had Fresh Coconut Water?
The coconut water was so delectable, the shredded coconut was also fresh and flavorful! The whole cooking class was lots of fun and the final meals we made were to die for! This video was filmed pre-pandemic, but currently their cooking classes are open and they are taking COVID precautions. If you're interested in this class visit www.cookingclasskuching.com
Have you ever drank fresh coconut water? Let me know in the comments!
