There are just a few plants that have played such an important role in our way of life. Coconuts, or what the Thai call ‘ma-prao’, are one of those plants. When talking about coconuts, one is reminded of those tall tropical-looking trees lining the southern coast of Thailand, and of course, of monkeys. What do monkeys have to do with coconuts? This tale of coconuts will tell you all.

You may imagine what coconut trees look like, and perhaps you might have seen coconuts sold among many exotic fruits in an Asian supermarket in your neighbourhood. However, coconuts have quite a long tale of their own before reaching your local market. The round and rather heavy green fruits grow from branching stems of flowers springing from the top of coconut trees.

When young coconuts appear ready to be picked (which means that they have darker green colour with the right size), wise Thai farmers send their trained monkeys up the trees to pick and bring the fruits back to them. Why use the monkeys? This is because the coconut trees are usually very tall and it will be too tiring and time-consuming, even dangerous for farmers to climb up the trees themselves. Thus, they train monkeys to do the job for them. Training schools for monkeys still exist in the south of Thailand and competitions to find out the fastest monkeys are also held every year.

Contained in freshly picked coconuts is delicately sweet coconut juice which is believed to be the best remedy to quench thirst, especially during Thailand’s hot and humid summer time. Apart from the delicious juice, coconuts also provide us with their white juicy coconut meat that enhances the sweetness of the juice when combined together. No wonder that coconut juice has always been on top of the lists of both Thai and foreigners favourite drink. Coconut meat, in addition to combining with coconut juice, can be used as an ingredient in various Thai-style desserts, such as, tapioca pearls in coconut milk ('sa-ku-nam-ga-ti') or ruby-like dough in coconut milk ('tub-tim-grob').

Now you may ask "And where does coconut milk come from? The juice?" The answer is no. Coconut milk or ‘ga-ti’ is made from grated meat of ripe coconut mixed with warm water and the milky white juice is squeezed out of the grated meat. A ripe coconut is required because when the coconut ripens, the meat inside becomes thicker due to accumulation of fat. 'Ga-ti' is one of the essential ingredients of favourite Thai dishes, be it be for main courses or desserts.

'Ga-ti' can be mixed with chilly paste to create a variety of well-known Thai dishes including Thai green and red curries, chicken in coconut soup ('tom-kha-gai') and the famous tom-yum-kung soup.  For dessert, one of the most famous Thai desserts made of 'ga-ti' is tapioca pearls in coconut milk with sliced young coconut meat. ‘Ga-ti’ can also be made into thick dipping sauce for ripe mangos, bananas and durians.
           

 

After extracting all the juice and meat in a coconut, what we have left with are coconut shells. In the past, Thai children made use of these coconut shells by playing a game called ‘dern-ga-la’ (walking on coconut shells). They simply make two holes on the sides of a coconut shell and pass a small string through the holes. Then they step on the shells with the string in their hands and try to walk on the shells. Who arrives at the winning point first wins the game. Moreover, some kinds of coconut shells can be made into a Thai string musical instrument called ‘saw’.  Now you should have a clear idea why coconuts have become such an integral part in Thai people’s lives.

 

The process of making coconut milk into Thai dishes is not difficult even though several different ingredients and spices are needed.

Thus, Thai-Choice is proud to present you a wide range of coconut products, including all the famous Thai dishes, drinks and desserts, for example, coconut juice, coconut milk, coconut powder, red and green Thai curry, panang curry, chicken in coconut soup and tapioca pearls in coconut milk (with or without coconut meat).