Raw Pad Thai

Serves 4

Fresh young coconut meat replaces conventional rice noodles in this sweet and spicy Thai dish. Don’t be frightened just cause you’ve never opened a coconut — It’s easier than you think and the directions are listed in step-by-step format below.

SAUCE
1-inch-piece fresh ginger, peeled
4 pitted dates, soaked for 10 minutes if hard
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tamarind juice, or 2 tablespoons paste mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raw almond or peanut butter
1 small fresh Thai chili pepper, seeded
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce), or tamari

SALAD
2 young Thai coconuts or about 1 1/2 cups fresh young coconut meat (see note)
1 cup shredded green or red cabbage, or a combination
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 Serrano pepper, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus additional leaves for garnish
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped almonds or peanuts for garnish

Place all of the sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree, adding a little water if needed (up to 1/4 cup) until it reaches a smooth but thick and creamy consistency. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes for the flavors to develop.

Break open the young Thai coconuts and remove the meat (see instructions below). Thinly slice the soft meat into long “noodles”.

Toss the coconut meat into a large bowl with the remaining vegetables. Mix in the sauce (I do it by hand) and top with the extra cilantro leaves and chopped nuts.

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NOTE: HOW TO OPEN A THAI COCONUT (IT’S EASIER THAN YOU THINK!)

A young Thai coconut has a soft white casing over the hard shell inside. Since it’s young, the meat will be soft and moist, rather than hard and chewy like the ones from a hard brown shell. Find young Thai coconuts at natural food stores in the produce section. They are white and cone-shaped at the top, and come wrapped in plastic.

STEP 1 – Exposing the hard shell from under the top of the white casing

Lay the whole white coconut on its side in front of you with the pointed side of the coconut towards your cutting hand. Use a good chef’s knife (no, you do not need a butcher knife) to cut diagonally into the white fibrous casing along the pointed edges. If you are doing it correctly and going deep enough into the casing, you’ll come across the hard shell underneath. Essentially, you are cutting along the diagonal point to expose the hard shell underneath.

STEP 2 – Whacking the shell

Sit the coconut upright on the flat end (it should now have the top of the hard round shell exposed, facing upward). Using the heal end of the knife (the thick bottom corner) whack into the coconut shell at a 40 degree angle. Do not use the blade, use the thick corner heal. If done correctly, the heal (bottom corner) of the knife should be sticking into the coconut shell a bit.

STEP 3 – Wedging the coconut open

Use the heal of the knife to wedge the coconut open a bit, by wedging the knife back and forward, up and down, to widen the crack. Wedge the heal of the knife into the crack, allowing a bigger gap to pry open.

STEP 4 – Opening the shell

Remove the knife and use your fingers to pry off the top of the shell. The top of the shell should pull off surprisingly easy in one nice piece.

STEP 5 – Getting the water

The coconut should be full of water. Pour this delicious nectar into a large bowl or mason jar. The water should be clear; if it is pink or purple, it is going bad and should be discarded.

STEP 6 – Cutting out the meat

Run a thin, flexible plastic or metal spatula between the delicate white flesh and the hard shell to remove the meat. The meat should be soft and white; if gooey, pink or purple, the meat is going bad and should be discarded.

Food photo by Jackson D. Carson

©2009 Copyright Alison Anton – All rights reserved.