By now, you might have heard about the purported health benefits of drinking young coconut water and eating the tender white "meat". Go to many "health food" stores and you'll find containers of this coconut water. Increasingly, it's also possible to find the actual young coconuts in the produce section.
If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a sizeable Asian-american community, you might find these sold from street vendors or in markets. Some might even use a big cleaver (stay out of their way!) to open it for you. It's possible that in some places, this might be equally the case for any neighborhood of immigrants, for whom the coconut is a staple. These coconuts come in varieties, depending on the country of origin. They are native to tropical places including Brazil and Thailand.
If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a young coconut, you might be wondering how on earth do I safely crack one? Myself, I am nervous about using a cleaver to crack a coconut, while admiring the confidence and dexterity of those who do so. I did locate a popular video from a fellow (AromaThyme is his youtube name) who shows how to do this using a Chef's knife alone. If that method works for you, fabulous!
Seeking a seemingly safer and quieter option, I experiment. Here's what works for me. Try it and see if it works for you. I'd love to hear how it goes.
Cracking a Young Thai Coconut
1. If wrapped in clear plastic wrap, remove this.
2. With sharp Chef's knife pointed away from you, cut along top pointy "crown" of the coconut and after each cut, turn the coconut, until have cut all the way around and remove this outer layer to expose the "shaved" crown.
3. Using an icepick and a hammer: Place coconut flat side down onto a square potholder (cushions and steadies it nicely). Point icepick into crown, about 1/2 to 1 inch down from top.
Holding the icepick handle in one hand as a chisel, hammer the top of that chisel until it breaks through the crown. Put the hammer down.
4. Angle the chisel and push up from below the surface of the crown as if you were trying to chisel up through a layer of ice. The goal is to make cracks in the "ice" (i.e., "coconut crown") above until a crown is cracked all the way around. Might turn the coconut as you crack along the crown.
5. Remove the crown. Place a measuring cup evenly over the top of the coconut to cover the big hole. Over sink or bowl, quickly turn the cup+coconut upside down so water goes into the cup.
6. If you cracked a large enough crown, you can now stick a metal spoon inside and scoop out the coconut. If it's too small, repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 to make a bigger hole. This is typically easier to do now that the water is out.
Now it's time to enjoy the fruits (well, nut...) of your labor!
