Monkey milk

10/28/2019

By Siri

Hello, I just visited the Osa peninsula of Costa Rica for a week. It was so beautiful; we did some walks through the jungle and saw a sleeping sloth and found my new favorite animal the squirrel monkey – so cute. We met some nice guests at our lodge who the taught me to write Haiku, which is fun. Our nature guide taught us how to make coconut milk from the coconuts the monkey’s drop from the palm trees.

 I will try to explain how to make coconut milk.  First you will choose a coconut that is big and brown. Next, you want to break off the husk of the coconut with a metal spike type thing that, at least here, is fixed to the ground.  You need to rip away the husks you have hacked at and loosened but that takes some strength; maybe some parent help. Next you will see the actual pod or seed, that is what you probably will see on photos on the web.  Now where does the milk come from? Well now you knock it all round the middle on the concrete to make a long crack all round. Pull it apart it over a big bowl and once its open let the milk pour into the big bowl or small pot. At this point your need to use a special tool. It is a big plank of wood that you can sit on that has a handle-like part with a scraping knife/spoon in the front.  You take the split coconut and rub it on the scraping end. WARNING: this may cut your hand on the serrated part; use at your own risk. It will take 10-20 minutes to completely scrape both coconuts. Now in the bowl you should have the coconut milk and coconut shavings; let that sit for a hour to soak up. Next blenderize it and strain it. Press down on the solids with a spoon to get all that good milk out. There you have it: ONE ingredient coconut milk it sweet enough as is – no sugar no nothing needed. My mom loved some in her coffee. I say enjoy it blended with pineapple and lime juice for a virgin Pina Colada – yum.