Shelled coconut in Chiang Mai, Thailand

One of the the things I’ve always loved about Thailand is being able to get fresh coconuts. They usually look like this:

You’ll find them everywhere in Thailand. The usual way to serve them is to use a cleaver to make 4 cuts in the top. You can then either remove the top entirely or just poke a straw in and drink the coconut water. Once you’ve finished that you can scrape off the young coconut from the inside. So much tastier than the dried coconuts you get in England.

This time in Thailand, though, I’ve started to see coconuts being served by removing all the hard outer bit and putting the whole coconut (flesh and water) in a plastic pot. It’s a little like peeling a soft boiled egg. Which I’ve actually seen my husband do. But that’s a story for another day.

So here’s the process (see top of post for time lapse of the whole thing):

First, he hacked off most of the outer layer, leaving the coconut flesh with a thin layer around it. Then he used a smaller knife to separate the flesh from the outer layer. When he’d got most of the outside off he motioned to Jack. When Karl nodded that the coconut was for him he slowly and carefully scraped off every bit of the outside layer. It was very sweet.

Finally he put the whole thing in a plastic pot and pierced it with a straw.

And the verdict? A resounding ‘yes’ from Jack.