I have been busy this week. Between baking (bread) and cooking (mostly sauces) for an upcoming party, I had somehow forgotten about the atchara (pickles) I had made from heart of coconut palm. A search for mustard (in case you want to know, I always put some in my Bolognese, the difference that it makes only apparent to me, it seems) led me to the recessed bottom shelf of the refrigerator door, and there they both had sat.
I mentioned that I’m quite busy, so I’ll get right to it: the atchara was very good, perhaps the best that I have had so far, and by that I am not touting my pickling chops because the vinegar solution remains the same for every atchara I make. If heart of coconut weren’t so hard to come by — you have to cut down the whole tree to get to it — I would be serving the pickle with all manner of fried dishes. Compared to bamboo shoot, heart of coconut is creamier, more delicate (it is also naturally sweet, which is why some eat it raw).
When sold pre-sliced, coconut heart is often “extended” with parts from the more fibrous base it is harvested with. While perfectly edible, the base is coarser and not as sweet. Check out the thicker slices in the photo above — they’re from the base. That almost transparent slice at the upper right is from the core. You don’t need a mandoline slicer: the heart is composed of hundreds (thousands?) of very thin layers like that that remind me of pad Thai noodles. Now there’s an idea for next time. Meanwhile, it’s back to the kitchen.
Please peruse past pickle posts: ampalaya (bitter gourd), tangkong (water spinach), purple cabbage, watermelon rind, and red radish and Japanese cucumber.
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