We’ve been obsessed with coconuts. We just can’t get over the idea that they’re everywhere. Everywhere.
The welcome packet we got when we were first assigned here included a warning not to park our car under a coconut tree, or else you may get unwanted dents. It may be my favorite piece of advice before moving to a new place.
The Polynesian Dance performance at our hotel includes a demonstration of how to crack a coconut and get the juice and the milk out of the coconut. Within about 90 seconds, they go from intact coconut to husked coconut. They make it look so easy.
As we’ve walked around and driven the island, coconuts are just laying on the ground. Everywhere. They’re on trees – close to the ground, high in the air. It tickles the imagination to see such abundant bounty.
And then there’s the coconut sashimi stand at the Night Market on Wednesday night. For five dollars, the man working the stand will chop off the end of a green coconut, and give you straws to drink the coconut water. When you’re done with the water, you take the coconut back to him, and he’ll chop it in half and serve up some coconut sashimi. It turns out that the flesh of a green coconut, and served up with soy sauce and wasabi, it’s delicious!
So when we picked up a few coconuts on our hike the other day, we thought it would be easy to just crack them open and get the coconut water and coconut meat out. No problem. We picked up a machete from Home Depot, found a park, and got to work.
Oddly enough, cracking open a coconut isn’t quite as easy as the professionals make it look. And the machete isn’t quite the right tool for the job. I think we may have provided the entertainment that day at the park. After some work, we got the green coconut open, and we were able to enjoy the coconut water. But the mature coconut was more of a challenge. I understand now why coconut fibers get used for so many things – they’re incredibly strong in one direction.
Eventually, a local came over and took pity on us. He cracked open the outer shell and split the inner nut in half. The meat was nutty, slightly sweet and flavorful. I’d love to learn how to cook with fresh coconut.
We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve now, so the next time we try, I think we’ll know what we’re doing.
