How Do You Open a Coconut? Tips for Cracking Hard-Shell Coconuts and Green Coconuts

Coconuts come in two types: hard-shell and green. They are native to India, the coastal areas of Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean region. If you bought an unopened whole coconut, many people don't know how to open a coconut, but once you master the technique, you'll find it's not that difficult. Let me show you how below.

How to Open a Hard-Shell Coconut

1. First, drain the coconut water

If the coconut you bought still has its husk (coir), you'll first need to remove the husk, and then you'll see three small dark spots on the exposed shell surface. The coconut shell is very hard and not easy to break open, but these small dark spots are its weak points. Poke them with a chopstick and you can pierce through, then pour out the coconut water inside and keep it (this is the good stuff).

2. Crack it open with a hammer

Once the coconut water inside has been emptied out, you can strike the shell with the back of a knife or a hammer. When striking, you need to tap lengthwise along the grain on the shell's surface; if you go crosswise, it will be harder to break open. Once it's cracked to a certain extent, you can try pulling it apart with your hands, because if you smash it too finely, the flesh will mix together with the hard shell and be harder to clean up when eating.

3. If you don't have a hammer

When you want to eat the coconut flesh but don't have any tools, you can put the coconut shell in a plastic bag, then spin it a few times so it settles at the very bottom of the bag, and finally swing the plastic bag so the coconut shell inside strikes against a hard surface. Usually after hitting it against concrete two or three times, the shell will break apart, and then you can peel it open and enjoy the coconut flesh inside.

How to Open a Green Coconut

1. First, you need a green coconut. If you want to drink the coconut water inside directly after opening it, you might as well put the green coconut in the refrigerator and chill it for at least 2 hours. Then find a fairly sturdy knife, such as a kitchen cleaver, and make a horizontal chop on the top, shaving off a layer of the outer shell. The green coconut's shell isn't hard, so chopping it isn't difficult.

2. Using the corner of the cleaver blade near the handle, apply some force to chop into the top of the coconut. On this coconut's crown, we need to chop four cuts around the center point, forming a quadrilateral, then remove the shell of this quadrilateral to drink the coconut water inside. If the knife can't cut through the coconut shell in one go, you might as well chop a few more times in place to make sure it cuts through. It's best to do this next to the kitchen sink, so if the coconut water sprays out, it's less likely to stain your clothes.

3. After the first cut, turn the coconut horizontally ninety degrees, and chop right next to the first cut. Then turn another ninety degrees and chop again, then another ninety degrees and chop again. Four cuts in total, forming a quadrilateral.

4. After the four cuts are done, set the knife aside and lift off the quadrilateral “lid” you carved out.

5. Now you can directly insert a straw and sip the juice. Of course, you can also pour it out to drink. If you want the coconut water colder, you can also add some ice cubes to it.

6. The coconut flesh inside should be very soft and can be scooped out directly with a metal spoon. If that doesn't work, you can chop the coconut in half to get the coconut flesh. The coconut flesh is also edible, for example, ground into shredded coconut and such, which is often used in Western pastries.