Coconuts Aren’t Actually Nuts—They’re Closer to Peaches Than Walnuts

Across Southern India, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America, coconuts are a staple ingredient. They’re extra than simply meals, although—in locations the place coconuts are a vital crop, they carry a significance that goes past the culinary. In many cultures, coconuts can maintain religious which means in addition to cultural significance, symbolizing hospitality, custom, and extra. Offering a mature coconut in India, for instance, whether or not at a marriage or to a departing home visitor, is a gesture of respect and blessing.

The coconut can also be a flexible crop. Different types of the edible “nut” are utilized in dishes throughout many cuisines. But it is not only a supply of meals: The husk and fronds are used to make ropes, netting, and constructing supplies; the trunk turns into timber after the tree stops fruiting; and the shells are changed into carbon black (a sort of charcoal). In the Philippines, the coconut tree’s versatility has earned it the identify “Tree of Life.”

But what precisely is a coconut?

What Is a Coconut?

Botanically, a coconut is the seed of a drupe and, not like hazelnuts or walnuts, just isn’t a real nut. “A drupe is a hard-seeded fruit with a fleshy or fibrous outer layer,” says Marc Hachadourian, director of glasshouse horticulture on the New York Botanical Garden. Other examples of drupes embody peaches, olives, and almonds.

If you are picturing a coconut, do not begin with the furry brown sphere—that is simply the mature seed. Instead, consider coconuts as they seem when hacked open for recent coconut water: giant, inexperienced, easy, and barely pointed or oval in form. Here are the layers of that fruit:

• Exocarp: The easy inexperienced or yellowish outer pores and skin.
• Mesocarp: The thick, fibrous layer beneath the exocarp, known as the coir. It’s inedible however has many nonculinary makes use of, together with rope, mats, and fishing nets.
• Endocarp: The exhausting brown shell with three “eyes” on one finish, containing the seed.
• Endosperm: The white flesh and liquid contained in the shell, which nourishes the germ, the embryo that may sprout into a brand new tree.

When a coconut fruit is younger (round six months previous), the endosperm is usually liquid—the nutrient-rich coconut water all of us like to drink. As the fruit matures, dissolved solids within the water slowly solidify, first right into a smooth jelly, then into agency white flesh. By about one 12 months previous, a coconut is taken into account mature, with thick flesh and far much less water.

Coconuts are usually divided into two classes based mostly on age: younger or mature. According to Hachadourian, tender younger coconuts are harvested at 5 to seven months, after they have smooth flesh and candy water. Mature coconuts, however, are 11 to 12 months previous and have thick, agency flesh.

How to Shop and Store Fresh Coconuts

Fresh coconuts aren’t frequent in generic supermarkets, however many Asian or Caribbean grocery shops carry them.

How to buy younger coconuts: Young coconuts could also be bought entire with their inexperienced outer layer or trimmed to disclose the white, fibrous husk. For entire, inexperienced coconuts, test for freshness: The fruit ought to really feel heavy and slosh with liquid when shaken. Avoid coconuts with mildew, darkish spots, or cracks.

How to buy mature coconuts: Similar to younger coconuts, mature coconuts ought to really feel heavy and slosh when shaken, which signifies freshness, as an previous coconut won’t have a lot water inside. Avoid any with mildew on the husk or eyes. (If opening one appears intimidating, our information on how you can open a coconut will make the method much less daunting.)

How to retailer younger and mature coconuts: Refrigerate younger coconuts. Once opened, retailer the water and meat in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days within the fridge or as much as two months within the freezer. Unopened mature coconuts might be saved at room temperature for as much as three months. After opening, refrigerate the flesh in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days or freeze for as much as six months.

How and When to Use Fresh Coconuts

Young Coconuts: Valued for his or her water and jelly-like flesh, younger coconuts might be loved straight from the shell or utilized in smoothies and cocktails. The flesh works properly in desserts equivalent to Filipino buko pandan (younger coconut and pandan jelly pudding), Thai itim gati (younger coconut ice cream), or coconut ceviche.

Mature Coconuts: Fresh or thawed mature coconut meat can be utilized in sauces, soups, chutney, or vegetable sides. Mature coconut flesh might be blended with water to make recent coconut milk. In South India, shredded mature coconut is blended with jaggery and cardamom, stuffed right into a rice flour dough, and steamed for candy dumplings known as “sihi kadubu” or “kozhukatta.”

A List of Common Coconut Products

Here is an outline of various coconut merchandise and byproducts generally bought within the US.

Whole Coconuts

Mature coconuts: Hard-shelled, brown, furry seeds with agency flesh and a few coconut water.
Young coconuts: Tender, inexperienced coconuts full of coconut water, generally bought with the inexperienced outer layer trimmed off.

Both sorts might be tough to open and are not broadly obtainable in generic US supermarkets.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is made by mixing mature coconut meat with water, then straining the combination. It’s bought canned, in cartons, or refrigerated with different dairy-free milks. To make it at dwelling, mix shredded recent coconut with water and pressure by means of a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Shelf-stable coconut milk is heated, homogenized, and ultra-pasteurized, and could also be sweetened or unsweetened. Unpasteurized coconut milk have to be refrigerated always.

Note: Don’t confuse coconut milk with coconut cream, which accommodates extra flesh and fewer water.

How to make use of coconut milk: Use it so as to add richness to curries, rice, or desserts like pengat pisang (a Malaysian banana coconut soup). If a can of coconut milk has separated into cream and water, stir to mix earlier than utilizing.