Buko Pandan Cooler

         

Buko Pandan Cooler

            I hadn't had a chance to post the last three days. So I'm anxious to show what I had been up to.
  
            It's now 10 pm here in the Philippines, but not too late for a bedtime snack. Since its late summer here, there's an even greater abundance of tropical fruits. 

            So, I think, it's time to introduce Filipino food in my blog, so for those of you who might never have set foot in tropical Asia, this drink/snack recipe will instantly transport your palates to a mini-vacation.

Buko shown with Machete

          
         Buko is young coconut, still green, and its meat ranges from transparent thin to translucent white. Pandan is Screwpine leaves, an aromatic, fragrant grass grown specifically  to lend its fragrance to cooked rice. It is also added to a few other recipes. Before we do get to completing the Buko Pandan Cooler, we shall have made Buko Juice, the more popular summer cooler that had already found its way into ready to drink tetra packs. So, essentially we will be hitting two birds with one stone.
     
            Buko and Pandan is such a match made in heaven that this flavor combo has been made into cakes, rolls, filling, pie, an ice cream dip, ice cream, smoothie, ice pops, cupcake , even candies.

            If the screwpine is not available, you can substitute Pandan flavor extract which maybe available in Asian stores. If not, see if you can find Pandan flavored gelatin in envelopes. In this recipe, we will be making pandan gelatin from scratch and break open coconuts the way we do it here.

          Let's make some! but please read through the instructions in preparing the young coconut before proceeding specially if this your first time to handle them. Take extra care in chopping off the hard outer covering of the coconut. The activity will rival chopping wood. We don't want to lose fingers here.  Unless, of course you can purchase them slivered and in coconut water already.

INGREDIENTS:

2 young coconuts, whole
2-4 pandan ( screwpine ) leaves 
2 cups water 
1/4 cup sugar 
1 envelope unflavored gelatin  plus 1/4 cup of lukewarm water 
a few drops green food coloring
Sugar to taste
Fresh milk

DIRECTIONS:

Bruised, but will not affect product quality

1. Wash the young coconuts. Prepare a jug or pitcher to catch the coconut water before even cutting the Buko. You will want a cutting board and a  butcher's knife or any heavy duty machete-like knife. Put one coconut on its side and chop off 1/4 of the top and bottom so you can let it stand, right side up. Remove some more fibrous coir from the top to expose the white meat. Poke a hole in it, if you haven't pierced it already. Drain off the liquid into a jug or pitcher. 

Buko ( Young coconut)

2. Lay the buko on its side and strike a hefty blow to cut it into halves. This might take two or more attempts. To make it easier, one hefty blow on opposite sides, then poke open with the tip of the knife.

Buko strips with 'kaskas'

3. If you have a "kaskas," ( sorry, no English word equivalent ) . It's a dual purpose tool to instantly scrape buko and melons into strips, with the other end shaped like a spoon. Scrape the meat and spoon into the jug with coconut water. If not, scrape the meat with a laddle or spoon and slice into slivers. You may also choose to scoop small pieces and not slice anymore. Do the same to the other coconut. Refrigerate or add some ice. At this stage, you can add sugar according to taste, pop some ice cubes and you already have about 6 cups of Buko Juice.

Buko Juice

 To make Buko Pandan, simply proceed to the next few steps.

3. To make our pandan  gelatin, put 2 cups water in a pot. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar and drop in the washed leaves. Let boil 5 minutes. The scent of pandan leaves should already fill the kitchen, when this happens, turn the heat to medium and discard the leaves. Add the gelatin dissolved partially in lukewarm water and add a few drops of green food color, stirring to make sure everything is blended.

pandan gelatin

4 Pour the prepared gelatin into a rectangular pan, let set, then slice into bite sized cubes.

5. Remove the buko juice from the fridge and add milk and sugar according to your taste. Sorry, but honey just doesn't quite fit the bill, so stick with sugar or sugar substitute, if you must.

Buko Pandan 

6. Stir in the pandan cubes, and adjust the sweetness, adding more sugar if necessary. Serve in tall chilled glasses with ice cubes and garnish with mint leaves, if you wish. 

Note: It is not uncommon for one to finish 2 or 3 glasses. The drink is totally refreshing, the textures, so pleasing that any inconvenience endured in the making will more than make up for it.

Also, you may find yourself visiting the bathroom often as Buko water is an excellent detoxifier and diuretic, that Filipinos commonly address Urinary Tract Infection and kidney troubles with just Buko Juice.

Thanks for visiting and let me know if you tried the recipe.


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