How to make coconut water

Coconuts
Originally uploaded by Eun Leanan

The liquid that comes out of a fresh coconut is NOT the same as coconut milk.
This liquid is coconut water .
The coconuts supplied in may non-coconut-growing countries often have little or no liquid inside. The fresher the coconut, the more juice it will have.
Coconut milk is a liquid extraction from grated coconut flesh. If you don't want to use a can, you can make coconut milk at home.
How To Make Coconut Milk
You will need:

8oz of unsweetened desiccated coconut
¾ pint boiling water
-- Put the coconut in a mixing bowl.
-- Pour the water over the coconut and mix it briefly.
-- Leave it to stand for about 20 minutes.
-- After 20 minutes, drain the water into a fresh bowl through a sieve or piece of linen (or even a very clean tea towel). you might prefer to get hands-on about this and just compress the water out of the coconut with your hands.
-- Squeeze the coconut as well as possible - it ought to be almost dry by the time you have finished.
-- The liquid you have left behind after you have squeezed the coconut is the milk - and you can use it in your coconut milk recipe as a replacement for the tinned version.
-- It will stay fresh in the fridge for a day or two if you keep it in a sealed container or cover it with cling film.

The beautiful photo is from flickr