Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fresh Buko (Young Coconut) Juice: Vegan MoFo #7

Street food carts, especially this refreshing one, can literally be found anywhere around the metro:

I am not a big fan of artificial obese causing drinks (aka soft drinks) and "juice drinks" -- I think those companies should have never been formed! Down with capitalism, down with huge food conglomerates that are out to rob you of your health and wealth!

Sorry, on to mofo'ing...

On a day when the sun turns you black in 10 minutes (everyday!), humidity is at 90% and the temperature is at 90-95 degrees F (30-35 degrees C), a cool refreshing drink is always welcome to soothe your parched throat. Buko juice (never labelled "young coconut water"; juice sounds much more delicious!) is the liquid from the cavity of a young or unripe coconut. The juice is highly nutritious and contains sugar, fibre, protein, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It also provides isotonic electrolyte balance and is a good substitute for those sugary drinks marketed as "electrolyte balancing". I guess this makes sense, as living in a humid tropical country drains your body from moisture and makes you tired all the time.
















One way to have this drink is to have the "coconut man" cut out the top with his hunting knife and pour the juice into a plastic bag; stick a straw in the bag and you're good to go.

Another far less wasteful and far cleaner method is to have him cut the outer shell of the fruit, slice off the top shell, exposing the meat. Stick a straw through the flesh and drink to your heart's content. It's always nice to share a drink with friends or coworkers. At P16 or US$0.34 for 1 shell, it's a steal.


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If you recall my post about my obsession with rose water, I finally got around to experiment and came up with rose water cake. Here it is fresh from the oven, with the parchment paper still stuck to the bottom. I'll be giving this with frosting on top to my cousin Monica who'll be celebrating her birthday this weekend. The cake came out... how should I say it... skinny? It was about 1-1.5 inches tall. I hope she likes it! The smell was intoxicatingly good. Since it's skinny it feels like a guiltless pleasure and can be eaten it everyday...




4 comments:

donesmoking said...

that coconut drink looks so refreshing!

Marie said...

if you get to come across a fresh young coconut, try the juice straight up from the shell! the juice is actually at a cooler temperature than the air temperature =)

Jen Treehugger said...

I've ALWAYS wanted to drink Coconut like this. I dream about what I think it would taste like!!

Marie said...

come over to south east asia, specifically the philippines; take a vacation to one of our numerous paradise-on-earth beaches; sip buko / young coconut juice from the shell, under a coconut tree, as you look out into the sea =)

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