The Coconut at Every Stage

Buko, the young coconut, is best eaten fresh, and young coconut juice is the healthiest drink nature can offer. The top of the buko is trimmed off in layers, leaving a soft pate of flesh on the top, which is punctured with a straw. If you are lucky, you will have enough of the meat to scrape inside the buko shell after you finish your drink. The buko meat is soft and delicate and is used for many Philippine desserts: buko pie, buko sorbets, and buko salads. It is also made into buko pancit and used as a substitute for noodles.