Young Thai Coconut Smoothie Recipe

I was thrilled when I walked into our local international food store and saw the Young Thai Coconuts. I have read post after post and watched numerous videos on opening and blending these nutritious and delicious coconuts. But the only coconuts I ever found were the hairy brown ones, and those required my husband to open.

I bought two young coconuts the first time I saw them. The first I opened (by myself) had pink water and purple, slimey flesh.  After doing some research on this one I concluded it was not fit to eat.

Some people claimed it was very young and not ripe but they ate it. Others said it was bad. Some claimed the preservative they dip the coconuts into for shipping seeped into it and spoiled it.  I observed the bottom of the coconut and noticed a small crack and light purple stain where the water had been seeping out. Mental note – always check the entire coconut for signs of leaking.  I sadly discarded that one and moved on to the second.

First, I checked to make sure it had not been leaking. It was white and clean all the way around. It was absolutely perfect. The water was a clearer color (not pink but a somewhat a dark color) and the flesh was sweet and a beautiful white.

I do remember shaking the coconuts before I purchased them and the one that was purple and bad actually had more air in it and I could hear the sloshing around of the water. The sloshing may have been due to the water leaking out of the crack at the bottom, causing enough room for air to enter. The other coconut had no sloshing sound when I shook it. That, apparently is a good sound – no sound at all. All the liquid has stayed inside the coconut with no room for air.

I used both the water and coconut flesh in a smoothie with my regular ingredients:greens, carrots, banana, dates, frozen fruit and a spoon of herbal booster powder (I got from the Bulk Herb Store) online.  It was excellent! I really could not taste much of a difference (only a slight coconut taste) between this and my other smoothies, but just knowing the added nutrition of the coconut made me feel better drinking it.   It was also exciting for my children to help me and participate in the mess. This made their glass of smoothie taste that much better too. It was, indeed, a family affair.

Young Thai Coconut Smoothie

• Water from young coconut (maybe 12 oz)
• Coconut flesh scraped from the coconut
• handful of greens
• handful of baby carrots
• 1 banana
• 2-3 dates (medjool dates are sweeter and softer)
• about 1/2 cup frozen fruit (blueberries or mixed fruit will do)