Monday, September 29, 2008

Young Coconut and Pork Soup


I hardly use coconut (other than coconut milk, which I adore) in my cooking. I don't know why, but I am just not a big fan of shredded coconut meat...it tickles my throat, and not in a good way ;)...but I wanted to do something new (by not using coconut milk), and I've decided to go for the young coconut and meat soup. I sounded great in my head, let's see how it turns out.

But, there's a tiny little detail I failed to consider, I just realised that I haven't tried cracking a whole coconut open before in my life! I saw a Thai chef doing it, seemingly effortless, fluently, easily, seamlessly, on TV and I remember that I saw my nanny did it many times back home in Indonesia. So, thinking that "if others can do it, so can I", I gathered enough courage to grab a whole young coconut from a supermarket near my place....glances of disbelief were shot at me while I loaded the coconut into my basket (not many people buy whole coconut, especially my people my age - yeah baby, in supermarkets and wet markets, I AM considered young!!!) and I shot them a super smug glance conveying this message: "Uh-huh! I am so doing it, I am going to crack this bad boy effortlessly, just like what they do on TV"


Apparently, surprise, surprise! Seeing stuff being done easily on TV is not equal to a sufficient training. Welcome to coconut cracking hell. On TV, I saw the chef cracking the coconut shell open by whacking it using the back of her cleaver. So I took my shiny and new cleaver (it's a gift and I hardly use it haha!), and started whacking my coconut with all my might.

Well well...after a whole lot of whacking, the coconut remained unscatched...staring back at me with mocking eyes, as if to say "Easy, eh? You've sooo underestimated me, baby!". Pieces of coconut husk were splattered everywhere, and there were only a few dents on the shell. I whacked and whacked and whacked...and finally I got a bit of an opening. The whacking continued and I've sent more coconut husk pieces in than getting anything out, I started to worry that I might not have anything to submit for Wandering Chopstick's Weekend Wokking - Coconut event. Finally, after I pretty much whacked my azz off, I had enough opening to pour the coconut juice out and spooned a bit of the silky smooth coconut meat.


Young Coconut and Pork Soup
Recipe
- 0.5 lb lean pork (Cut into chunky pieces. You can replace with chicken)
- juice (coconut juice/water (not coconut milk) and meat of 1 coconut)
- white pepper, salt
- hot water

Bring coconut juice and meat to boil, add pork chunks, add hot water, cook until the meat is tender. Season with white pepper and salt, serve hot.

This soup is clear yet super fragrant and sweet, the meat is richly flavored by the sweetness of the coconut juice. Sharing this recipe with the folks at Weekend Wokking, created by my blogger pal Wandering Chopsticks, hosted this week by Precious Pea.

I think I got a bit of bicep (although buried beneath a million layers of fat) from whacking that coconut. Yay!

25 comments:

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Awww. All that work because you love me. :) This sounds like such a great but simple soup. Hmmm. I think your biceps are feeling a bit firmer so all that hard work paid off. ;)

Anonymous said...

congrats on successfully cracking a coconut! I must try it one day to add to my cooking resume too hehe ... soup looks good and exotic hehe

Beachlover said...

wow!! I never have any young coconut juice as soup!Must be tangy sweet soup!!Yummy!.too bad I can't get young coconut easily here if not I want to try your recipe!

Precious Pea said...

Hahaha!! Hard work paid off! I wanted double boiled coconut soup using the coconut shell but I know I would not be able to crack it open.

A Scientist in the Kitchen said...

Hey, we have a similar dish called binacol. It's with chicken, lemongrass and ginger. I've tried it and blogged about it. It's really good. And the lemongrass is simply heavenly!

sefa firdaus said...

Rit... akhirnya beli mangkok sapo juga yaaaa *tossssssssss*

A.G said...

weh claypot...
wingi aku nek toko asia liak ada degan dr thailand, regone yo mayan sih aku pernah beli rasane ada pandane wangi gitu :) wes jadi inget Pattaya kiy :D

claypot is on my shopping list now ;)

CECIL said...

Hmmm..*touching MC's bicep* terkagum2 deh aku!! ;) I think I am culinary challenged, because I have never eaten this soup before!! Atau emang kreasi sendiri dari dapurmu ya Rit?

daphne said...

gosh! U cracked a coconut? bet the hard work is worth it!! Didnt know u can boil soup with that actually.. maybe because I am always such a glutton and drink the contents + eat the flesh first before anyone can do anything with it...

tigerfish said...

Looks like a dish of restaurant standard :) ....I would really like to taste the soup but I don't want to be messing around with a coconut and a cleaver at home :O

Little Corner of Mine said...

This is totally new to me, wonder how it tasted like.

Pam said...

Oh my. This soup is calling my name. I absolutely love coconut milk - especially fresh from the coconut. Great recipe!

Mama Mia said...

cracking that coconut seems like quite the workout with a delicious outcome!

Elle said...

You are too funny! And oh, the soup looks fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Our vendors here usually crack the coconuts for us, so I have seen how they do it, and I've never had to do it myself. I bet the soup is worth your efforts at cracking the coconut! :)

TS of eatingclub vancouver said...

We've never really cooked with coconut water/juice before! That I recall, that is. It's always been just drinking the juice straight up. =) This sounds very interesting... will definitely try it.

And wow, cracking a coconut! I've never tried because it looks scary! =D

Sharon said...

I also love coconut milk, but not shredded coconut. This soup, though looks scrumptious!

The Peanut Butter Boy said...

Really interesting soup you've got here. I would never think to try these 2 ingredients together. Good work on the coconut cracking, I tried once when I was little by smashing it on a rock and throwing it as hard as I could muster against a tree but eventually gave up.

Dora said...

Simple but yet yummy!

Christina Kim said...

Unique but really interesting!~
Great job!~:D

Jescel said...

watching you trying to whack that coconut to submission must have been fun! lol! you need a machete for it!... your soup sounds so intriguing. i've never used young coconuts for savory applications.. i like to eat them raw like that with the juice.. yum!

LianneK said...

what a creative dish! and it looks good from the photo too :-)

CECIL said...

Rit, I have an award for you waiting in my blog. Mampir2 yah! ;) Dah lama nga posting2, hope you are doing okay?? Atau kapok sembelih kelapa ya?

Elsye said...

ritaaa...pangananmu enak2 iki ...aku belum pernah coba, bisa diganti ayam kali ya :D

SIG said...

I bet the soup must taste sweet. Me too do not like dessicated coconut. Not that it tickles my throat, but I just do not like the taste of it. And that IS plenty of hard work trying to crack it open. I wouldn't have tried it. ;)