young thai. worth the trouble!

drinking fresh young thai coconuts is wonderful.  i had my first one just after i started teaching bikram yoga.  a yoga teacher friend of a friend brought a case of them  for us to enjoy after doing “advanced bikram series”.  well dear ones, i was HOOKED immediately!  young coconut water is nutritious  here is a great website with  easy to read info about all the nutritional values. another site says :

” It’s a natural isotonic beverage, with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. It’s the fluid of life, so to speak.” In fact, during the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water – siphoned directly from the nut – to give emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers”

wow!  that sounds amazing!

friends, i know this i have been drinking coconut water for 10 years now off and on.  it makes me feel great. the taste is not like a pina colada or that horrible dry coconut in a bag.  this tis not the water that’s left in a brown coconut.  young coconut water is a little salty, a little earthy and completely refreshing.  after a hot yoga class there is nothing better tasting or better for you. each nut holds around 8-10 ounces of water and at around 40 calories, no fat and just a few carbs , these things are like little miracles!

coconut water has become very popular as a prepackaged processed “sports drink”.  they are usually sold in a juice box type package. i have tried these drinks, they taste nothing like a fresh coconut water. i suppose if that’s all you can get, it’s better than nothing BUT you can get these nuts year around at asian grocery stores. most towns have one, if not you might ask your local chinese restaurant where you can get them. i have seen them for purchase online.  i get mine at the asian market super mall in houston waaaay out by the beltway.  i go there because i feel like they “turn over” a fair amount of produce daily and since freshness is key to deliciousness -i feel good about making the long trip.

after you have your coconut stash safely stored in the fridge,

the hardest thing is opening the nut and getting the water.  and  since the point of this blog post is to get you to drink REAL fresh coconuts i am going to teach you how to open them.  there are a few techniques.  most of them involve a cleaver or a very very sharp knife.  i  tend to be a little too easily frustrated to use a cleaver for anything. my tool of choice for opening coconuts is a spike and a hammer.

the spike can be a number of things.  my first spike was a cheapo dollar store knife sharpening spike that was a bit pointy.  over the years i have had many, my current favorite and the best ever is a tent spike from the sporting goods store.  it looks like a HUGE nail and is the perfect diameter punch for a straw .

(thanks to marcelle g. for gifting me with this lovely spike as thanks for introducing her to the coconuts)

position the spike on one of the flat surfaces of the shaved nut. (they come like this out of the box)   hold the spike at a slight angle while bracing your hand on the nut to keep it from flying across the room.

hold tight. now hit it with the hammer a few times.  once it’s in, push it around a bit to open up the space for the straw. (a crimped straw is maddening)  remove the spike …

insert a straw and enjoy!!