This Thai-inspired recipe for vegetarian coconut soup starts with two young coconuts. Yes, opening a coconut is a lot more fun and interesting that opening a can of coconut milk; thanks for asking! This soup is barely cooked; many of its ingredients are raw. It has alluring flavors, like kaffir lime leaf and Thai chili. All of this makes for an incredibly fresh-tasting dish.
Coconut Soup
4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalIngredients
2 young coconuts
4-6 kaffir lime leaves
4 Tbs sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
2 lemons
1/4-1/2 c. water
1 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 dried Thai pepper, stem and seeds discarded
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tsp salt
Fresh basil, julienned, plus a few small leaves, for garnish
½ zucchini, cut into matchsticks
¼ – ½ of a red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
Avocado wedges or slices, for garnish
Directions
- Extract the meat and water from the coconuts, and place it into a blender.
- Place the lime leaves and sesame seeds into a clean coffee grinder. Use a vegetable peeler to remove three 3-inch slices of peel from the lemon; add them to the grinder. Finely process, Transfer to the blender.
- Juice the lemons. Add 4 Tbs of the juice to the blender. (Repupose the rest.) Add water, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, Thai pepper, ginger and salt. Blend thoroughly on medium-low speed (setting 2 of 6), 2 minutes. Transfer to a saucepot, and cook over a low flame (setting 2 of 9) until it just begins to boil, 20 minutes.
- Divide the basil, zucchini, and bell pepper among four soup bowls. Ladle soup over the veg. Garnish. Serve immediately.
Notes
- A small brush with very stiff bristles will help you get all the lime leaf mixture out of your grinder.
The Backstory
I knew nothing about coconuts before embarking upon this soup recipe. I was curious, though, which is what prompted this post. This is what I’ve learned so far about coconuts:
Social Learning
There are “young” coconuts, and “mature” coconuts. If your only real exposure to coconuts is from Gilligan’s Island reruns, what you envision when you think about a coconut is a mature coconut. A young coconut looks different (refer to the video link in the recipe), its milk is much milder and imho more delicious than that of a mature coconut, and is flesh has a soft, gelatinous quality. A young coconut is often called a Thai coconut. They’re fairly easy to find in a well-stocked grocery, especially if you live in an area with a diverse population.
There are a few ways to open a young coconut. The one I linked to in the recipe is the best. Others I’ve seen look like they could easily turn dangerous. I’ll add a few of my own observations to the method that I followed: you should work at removing the husk just about all the way to the husk’s top ridge, so that when you remove the top of the nutshell, you’re removing a fairly large piece. If you remove only a small chunk, you’re going to find it challenging to maneuver your spoon around to scoop out the meat. In order to make this work, as soon as you’ve punctured your way into the coconut, drain the juice immediately. Then proceed with opening it up.
I believe the object is to remove only the white meat, leaving the brown skin behind. This all but impossible to do completely. I have to say, though, that I don’t mind the taste or texture of the brown skin, so long as there’s not too much of it. I’ve watched a few videos, and it seems that I’m not the only one in this boat.
I also know precious little about Thai cooking – although I do know a few things about eating Thai food! If you’re looking for a way to get raw foods into your diet, and want a reprieve from salads, and live near a Thai or pan-Asian grocery, this is the soup for you. If you’re looking for something elevated, keep looking … although with care, this could be quite nuanced. This soup is squarely in the “everyday” category; a bit more of a workhorse than a show horse. It’s a hot soup, so it makes sense in cold weather, but its freshness would make it seem like a great hot-weather soup, too.
Vegetarian Coconut Soup
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Thanks, Prosper Circle. This recipe is a modification of one from Breaking muscle.
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Thumbs up for you extracting the coconut meat and water from scratch! The soup must have tasted fantastic!
angiesrecipes recently posted…Keto Air-Fryer Fried Chicken
Thanks! It was a lot of fun, that’s for sure, and I did love the soup.
Absolutely love the flavours in this soup particularly the kaffir lime leaves. The video is very helpful, never knew there was a difference in age with coconut but it makes sense. The gelatinous texture frightens me a bit, but the soup looks divine.
Éva+Taylor recently posted…Liz’s Biscoff Cookies
I love kaffir lime leaves. The only drawback is that – at least where I buy them – you can’t buy just one or two. You have to buy quite a few. And although I love the flavor, it is very particular, and you can just add it willy nilly to everything. So what to do with all those leaves? I’ve been toying with the idea of making a keffir ice cream.
As far as that gelatinous texture, yeah – so weird.
Well this is a fun recipe! I happen to have all of the ingredients on hand except for the young coconut. Like you, I’ve never worked with “real” coconuts before…the closest I’ve ever come was a can. I kinda imagined wielding a machete and going crazy on that coconut. I guess I would’ve been wrong. 🙂 Soup sounds quite delicious, Jeff!!
David @ Spiced recently posted…Tuscan Chicken Pizza
Actually, David, if you look around, weilding a machete is what a lot of people seem to do! That’s what the author of the video that I cited probably was refering to when she said that she’d seen a lot of dangerous practices. Anyway, I’ve no doubt that you could make this soup quite easily with a can of coconut milk.
This soup sounds great. It has a beautiful combination of ingredients. I don’t have a lot of experience with coconut — Mounds and Almond Joy bars, mostly!
I love Mounds and Almond Joy! I should figure out how to make a candy soup out of them.
I really thought you used canned coconut milk, so I applaud you for going the extra mile. The soup looks and sounds tasty and hearty!
Thanks, Ben. I think the biggest advantage of using canned coconut is that you’d probably wind up with a whiter soup, which would be nice. I couldn’t seem to get the nutmeat out without also coming away with large portions of the brown skin. But the brown skin tasted just fine, and my hunch is that things like that are often full of nutrients. And the soup tasted great.
Well I’m certainly impressed. Working with coconuts for the first time and not knowing much about Thai food, you certainly took on a challenging dish. You made the coconut milk from scratch! I’m sure it tasted quite different than what comes from a can. Well, the result looks fabulous. I’m sure it takes as good as it looks.
mjskitchen recently posted…Green Chile Deviled Eggs
Thank you!
This looks and sounds amazing! I’ll probably never attempt to open a coconut at this point in my life to avoid potentially losing a hand.
Chef+Mimi recently posted…Turkish Eggs
I know what you mean! But it is kind of fun.
I’ll keep this recipe in my wallet. That way if I’m ever shipwrecked on a desert island I’ll have something fresh to make with all those coconuts! Looks delicious. GREG
sippitysup recently posted…Chicken Liver Mousse (Or French Pâté If You Prefer)
You mean aside from the coconut cream pies that Ginger and Mary Ann always made?
I haven’t cracked a coconut for decades! SO much easier to buy the milk/meat already processed. But you’re right that I’m losing a lot of fun. But I probably retain some of my fingers. 🙂 Anyway, this is such a nice recipe – thanks.
John+/+Kitchen+Riffs recently posted…Fennel and Apple Salad with Smoked Salmon
I know what you mean, John. Thanks!
What a gorgeous soup and a fascinating read Jeff! I know nothing about coconut, but use coconut milk and shredded coconut frequently. You’ve inspired me to buy a young coconut and do the work myself. Especially if this delicious Vegetarian Coconut Soup is the result. 😋
Shannon recently posted…Grilled Potato Spinach Piroshki
Thanks, Shannon!
i love all the flavours jeff. i like my food spicy and interesting. my dad used to crack open fresh coconuts for us regularly. we would chew on the flesh for days (and days) to come … 🙂
sherry recently posted…Chocolate Tart – Another 110 Year Old Recipe!
Oh, how cool!
I havent tried coconut soup before! But i love to try it. Looks great and healthy. Thanks. Greetings.
Thank you!
I love Thai soups and the coconut/lime version is a classic. Perfect for this time of year!
Abbe@This is How I Cook recently posted…Strawberry Cookie Recipe with White Chocolate and Cacoa Nibs
Thank you!
Love this soup Jeff looks delicious !!
Gloria+Roa+Baker recently posted…Berry fig Tart (Tarta de higos y frambuesas)
Thank you, Gloria!
Love that you used actual coconuts for this! So cool and impressive. And the flavors in the soup are simply dreamy! 🙂 ~Valentina
Thanks so much!
This is a beautiful dish, Jeff! If I can find young coconuts (do I ask for their drivers will be making this ASAP!
??? Not sure what you meant, but young coconuts looks completely different from mature ones. Mature ones are what we all think of as coconuts. Young ones have their shells shaved off, so they are completely white and usually there’s a cone carved into the top. If you search for images, you’ll see what I mean.
I’ve had young coconuts and they are very different than a mature coconuts.You vegetarian soup recipe looks really delicious.
Thanks, Judee!
Hi Jeff, this recipe looks intriguing and I can’t wait to try it! You had me at “Thai” 🙂
Thank you!