How can you tell when a coconut is ripe enough to eat ,even when the green coating is on it ..????!
Tips on Choosing a Coconut
> Feel the weight. Good-quality coconuts would be heavy.
> Make sure that there is no visible moisture or mould
> When shaken, there should be a distinct sound of liquid sloshing inside.
Tip: For most recipes, freshly grated coconut is far superior to the desiccated kind shops retail, leading in both the fields of flavour and texture
A coconut takes a full year to develop from a flower into a ripe nut. During this time the fruit of the coconut passes through four food phases;
(1) Even before the nut is ripe, when it is bright green in colour, the juice or milk can be drunk. It is sweet and refreshing, and one green coconut can contain up to 1 liter of milk. Green coconut milk has the advantage of being perfectly sealed in a hygienic container and in some places it is therefore used in place of sterile water for medicinal purposes, or with salt added, for the rehydration of fever or gastroenteritis cases.
(2) After the green stage the nut begins to ripen – on the outside, it turns slowly brown, and on the inside a thin white layer of meat or pulp begins to develop – this can be eaten and has a consistency rather like that of a soft boiled egg.
(3) If the nut remains on the tree it continues to ripen, the outside becomes harder and the meaty inner lining thickens and hardens while the milk turns to tasteless water. The mature pulp can be shredded at this stage and the fresh meat used in various dishes, or the shells are split and the meat is left to dry in the sun, becoming “copra” from which coconut oil is extracted
(4) If a coconut is allowed to fully ripen on the tree, and then falls onto a suitable surface, it will start to germinate; this forms the last food phase. As the coconut germinates a white sponge-like ball develops within the shell, absorbing the liquid and hard meat. The sponge can be eaten. It is sweet and is, in taste and texture, rather like spun sugar candy. Care must be taken with this part of the fruit however, because after a certain point in its development it becomes poisonous.
A more exotic product of the coconut palm is used in “millionaires salad”. This is made from the hearts of the newly sprouted embryo palm trees. Extracting the heart kills the tree – but this is often done when thinning of new growth is required.
Answers: The coconut is a very versatile fruit as it is edible ripe and unripe. The hard, brown, fibrous shell familiar to most is the mature ripe form of coconut. 'Immature' coconuts are green on the outside and the shells are still fairly soft. These coconuts are often sliced open and served with a straw and a spoon: one for drinking the sweet juice, the other for scooping out the soft, jelly-like flesh. Throughout the tropics, (this includes Singapore) coconuts are a common ingredient in dishes sweet, savoury and also spicy.
Tips on Choosing a Coconut
> Feel the weight. Good-quality coconuts would be heavy.
> Make sure that there is no visible moisture or mould
> When shaken, there should be a distinct sound of liquid sloshing inside.
Tip: For most recipes, freshly grated coconut is far superior to the desiccated kind shops retail, leading in both the fields of flavour and texture
A coconut takes a full year to develop from a flower into a ripe nut. During this time the fruit of the coconut passes through four food phases;
(1) Even before the nut is ripe, when it is bright green in colour, the juice or milk can be drunk. It is sweet and refreshing, and one green coconut can contain up to 1 liter of milk. Green coconut milk has the advantage of being perfectly sealed in a hygienic container and in some places it is therefore used in place of sterile water for medicinal purposes, or with salt added, for the rehydration of fever or gastroenteritis cases.
(2) After the green stage the nut begins to ripen – on the outside, it turns slowly brown, and on the inside a thin white layer of meat or pulp begins to develop – this can be eaten and has a consistency rather like that of a soft boiled egg.
(3) If the nut remains on the tree it continues to ripen, the outside becomes harder and the meaty inner lining thickens and hardens while the milk turns to tasteless water. The mature pulp can be shredded at this stage and the fresh meat used in various dishes, or the shells are split and the meat is left to dry in the sun, becoming “copra” from which coconut oil is extracted
(4) If a coconut is allowed to fully ripen on the tree, and then falls onto a suitable surface, it will start to germinate; this forms the last food phase. As the coconut germinates a white sponge-like ball develops within the shell, absorbing the liquid and hard meat. The sponge can be eaten. It is sweet and is, in taste and texture, rather like spun sugar candy. Care must be taken with this part of the fruit however, because after a certain point in its development it becomes poisonous.
A more exotic product of the coconut palm is used in “millionaires salad”. This is made from the hearts of the newly sprouted embryo palm trees. Extracting the heart kills the tree – but this is often done when thinning of new growth is required.
Knock on it. It should sound hollow; and shake it you should hear the milk slosh freely.