An Indonesian Coconut Refresher

A squeeze of lime to balance the sweetness of young coconut juice and palm sugar syrup

Kelapa muda (young coconut) juice is a common beverage in Southeast Asia. It usually comes in the form of a whole coconut with its crown whacked off and straw stuck in.

After a several-hour crawl through the Sunday market in Rantepao, in Sulawesi's Toraja region, we were thrilled to come across this mobile cart serving up an Indonesian variation of the popular refresher. Even better - it incorporates our all-time favorite Southeast Asian sweetener, palm sugar.

 

The technique's pretty simple: drain the juice of a young coconut into a glass (this bore a cigarette logo) and scrape the fruit's flesh in after it.

Follow with a bit of smoky palm sugar syrup made from the sap of immature buds of the aren palm, and then balance the sweetness with a generous squeeze of lime juice.

Stir and enjoy.

 

(We weren't the only happy customers.)

This treat's two in one, both beverage and snack -- fruit juice and soft, sweet flesh.

To start your weekend with an appetite-rousing slide show of more street food from around the region hop over here.

Oh - and have a good one!

Comments

[borneoboy]

Oh this looks really great on a hot day ! In Kuching we have a version where they mix young coconut juice with sugar cane juice to sweeten it, and a twist of lime to cut through the sweetness. I always order it whenever I see it.

[Ronny]

I must try adding lime juice and palm sugar the next time I have a coconut juice.

The sign on the vendor's cart is quite amusing, Ojo Dumeh is Javanese, meaning "don't show off" :-)

[the lacquer spoon]

Winter is now upon me in Japan, so I'm missing such an exotic concoction under the hot weather :)

[Nancie McDermott]

I love the coconut meat scraper, is that a bottle cap on a bamboo stick? Brilliant. This just gives me such a sweet little "tiow" on a busy Friday morning --- a fun escape from the everyday world. And it's free and it came to me. Never underestimate how much joy and insight your writing and photographs donate to the world, speaking from personal experience as a member of the world, reading and gazing on Eating Asia. Thanksgiving was last week, but this coconut refresher reminds me to say I'm thankful for y'all.

[Pepy @ Indonesia Eats]

In Bogor, I used to have dawegan (the Sundanese word for young coconut) Mixed with cane sugar and fresh iced orange squeezed (es jeruk)

[cyn]

this sounds so simple and refreshing! never thought about adding sugar to my coconut before, but why not? *grin*

[shayma]

mmmm i would adore to have this. fresh coconut, lime? what's not to like? your blog is gorgeous-such beautiful photog.

[grace]

I love the bottle cap attached to a stick implement the vendor uses to scrape the coconut.

[Robee]

I like the name typed in the coconut seller's vehicle. Ojo Dumeh. That's meaningful, :D