Preparation

• Drain the coconut water: There are three round indentations called eyes on the top of the coconut. Two are softer than the third. With a chopstick or screwdriver, poke a hole into these two eyes, then drain and discard the water. (Water from mature coconuts is not ideal for drinking.)
• Lay a kitchen towel over your hand and cradle the drained coconut in the towel with the eyes pointing up. Using a hammer or meat tenderizer, make a sharp, quick blow at the equator. Continue rotating the coconut and hitting at the equator until it pops open into two halves. Place the coconut halves flat side down on a work surface covered with a kitchen towel, and smash with a hammer or meat tenderizer to break the shell into smaller pieces.
• Pry the coconut meat away from the shell using the tip of a sturdy butter knife or a small offset spatula. Once all the meat is removed from the shell, use a vegetable peeler to pare off the exterior brown skin from the coconut meat.
• Rinse the peeled meat, break it into roughly 1-inch pieces, and place in a blender with the water. Blend until the mixture looks like a smoothie, about 1-1/2 minutes. (Coconut meat can also be extracted with a coconut grater. If you use a coconut grater, don’t blend the meat. Just combine with the water, and proceed with the recipe.)
• Line a fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth, and place it over a 1-quart glass measuring cup or a high-sided bowl. Pour the blended mixture on top of the cheesecloth, and then gather the corners of the cloth to form a bag. Twist the bag, and vigorously squeeze out liquid from the coconut.
• Use the coconut milk right away, or pour it into a glass container, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. It’s normal for coconut milk to separate as it sits. Just give it a good shake or stir before using. Don’t freeze coconut milk; once thawed, it will have a grainy texture similar to heavy cream that has been frozen.