Young Coconut

One of our experimental food items for the weekend (besides the jackfruit) was a “young coconut”.

Young coconuts are the immature (young) versions of their brown hairy, adult selves. They are white, hard, and are cut into an odd shape by their growers for better shipping and use. Young coconuts are highly nutritious, delicious, and easy to digest. The young coconuts, also known as Thai, jelly, shaved, green, asian, or water coconuts, are usually found in Asian grocery stores. (That’s where we found ours.) They are white and cylindrical with a point on the top. The mineral rich water is very sweet and should be used in recipes in place of water. The coconut tree acts as a water filter and it takes 9 months to create one liter. The coconut water is identical to human blood plasma and has a similar electrolyte balance.

Here’s a young coconut recipe I want to try:

Sweet Double Coconut Chia Pudding
- Makes 1-2 servings

1 young coconut, flesh and water
1/2 cup coconut flakes
2/3 cup chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch cloves
8 drops vanilla stevia (or plain stevia and some vanilla extract)

Blend together the young coconut flesh and water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and stevia until well mixed. Place the chia seeds and coconut flakes in a bowl and pour the coconut mixture from the blender over the top of the dry seeds and coconut flakes. Mix well and put in the fridge to set for ten minutes.