Homemade Dried Coconut…

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In my quest to make a brilliant pomelo and shrimp salad at home, I decided that each individual component HAD to be the best it could be, and whenever possible, I was going to do it from scratch. First I made some oven roasted peanuts, from freshly purchased nuts, roasted at high heat, then individually skinned, no separate post on that. Then I decided I should make some of our own dried or dessicated coconut, without any added sugar. First of all, if you buy dessicated coconut in say the Metro grocery, it is incredibly sweet, and wickedly expensive (say just under PHP200 for a small bag), then you realize it has an American label, and the darned coconut probably came from here, went there to be packaged and was shipped back here. How ridiculous is that?

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So on the weekly market foray by the cook, she obtained a mature coconut, we cracked it open, and I used a melon shredder to make large strips of coconut. Put these on a baking sheet and popped it into a 300F oven until some of the strips were golden brown. One coconut made a LOT of dried or dessicated coconut. And the mature coconut cost some PHP12 or so. Nearly 1/15th the cost of grocery bought, all local, less transport, and tastes more real to boot!

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I think the pomelo salad at People’s palace that I was trying to replicate used store bought coconut or they minced their dessicated coconut into much smaller bits, so I was hoping this step was going to result in a noticeable difference to the final dish. Now, you wonder, what the heck else can I use this home-dried coconut for. Well, we use it in homemade granola, or you can make a chocolate cake with coconut, they are a wonderful pairing. If you want finer granular dreid coconut, check out the method in the link to the chocolate and coconut cake.

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15 Responses

  1. Toasted fine grated coconut is usually sprinkled on our pudding-like desserts such as kalamay mais and maja blanca. It’s what they call kerisik in Indonesia and one of its uses is as garnish for beef rendang. For the longest time, I used my zester to produce sparse amounts of fine threads of coconut slowly until I discovered that it is much faster to dislodge the coconut meat from its shell, peel off the dark bark and grate the pieces on a fine vegetable grater. In Brazilian markets, the coconut sellers will do that all for you for next to nothing.

  2. “Now, you wonder, what the heck else can I use this home-dried coconut for”……How about some dark chocolate coated toasted coconut? I used to make them as part of my “nut and chewy” box when I was starting out as a chocolatier in the east coast.

    Melt about half a cup of dark chocolate in a bowl, stir, then add about a tablespoon of dried coconut in melted chocolate, coat, drop in grease-proof paper (or silpat, if you have one), repeat process until you have desired quantity. Chill for about 10 minutes in ref, then enjoy your CHOCOLATE MACAROONS!!!!

  3. How about chocolate coated marshmallow rolled in toasted finely grated coconut?Roll the pichi-pichi and palitaw too!How about home made Bucaio?
    HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to you MM!

  4. coconut macaroons–delicious!

    Happy Father’s Day, MM! thank you for all the delightful posts!

  5. I love pomelo and shrimp salad. Tried doing it twice and was really labor intensive when it comes to separating the pomelo ‘grains’. I used store bought thai plum sauce and thai fish sauce for flavor and plenty of roasted peanuts and toasted dessicated coconut. Both times it was a hit with my guests. hope you can share your recipe too.

  6. Dear MM, I love visiting your site. I come here everyday and read blogs on your food adventures. I first saw the quince here on your site. The next day I went to Krogger I saw a quince. it look like a pear. Your site has lots of helpful ideas. After I graduate from FCI I will advertise on your site. You have a good one!

  7. Happy Belated Father’s day. Anytime I could make my own ingredients I do. I may try this instead of buying grated coconut.

  8. Love this idea for homemade dried coconut. I love to make desserts with it. I saw you on the travel/cooking show with Bobby Chinn. Nice to read your blog. :)

  9. hi, i stumble into your site when i searched for dried coconut, i crave for coconut bars, the unsweetened or lightly sweetened. Where can i find that here in the Philippines?

    i find your site appealing to my appetite :)

    nice