The lives of coconuts

I remember a number of times at Thai restaurants back in the US where my friends would lament the amount of coconut milk thickening their curry and the outlandish number of calories it contained for them. Living in the coconut capital (I really mean there are mounds of coconuts being sold and carried everywhere), the more relevant thought I often have is, how many calories I can burn from preparing coconut milk? It is a lot of work! But Indonesians, time permitting, prefer to make their own coconut milk rather than buy the cheap packets of pre-made stuff. They consider this one of the many techniques that “make food more delicious.” Also in the list of ways to enjoy your food more is to: 1. Cook rice in a pot over an outdoor fire, rather than using a simple electric rice maker, 2. Eat with your fingers, obviously, and especially for eating fish, 3. Add a little MSG.

As for making coconut milk this is a process that leaves unpracticed workers like me with hand cramps like I just finished a timed writing exam. First task is shucking the coconut from its husk. This is done with a little skill and an old machete; I let Sumi take care of this part. After cracking the coconut open and breaking it into pieces you have to grate it all into tiny shreds (see photo). Then to get the milk from the flesh you mix up the grated pieces in a little water and squeeze fistfuls of the mixture over a strainer with a bowl to collect the milk. This is repeated continuously until there can not possibly be any left. To get more leverage in your squeezing you can put the mix in a cloth and twist until it is so tight that the milk comes out. Now you have a bowl of coconut milk to add to any simmering wok of vegetables and chicken.