Food: Crazy about coconuts

Over the weekend, Elton – an old classmate from university who is a local, lead the way to explore some of the culinary delights that Kota Kinabalu had to offer.

Being a nature-ish + beach-ish + chilled out-kinda resort town that Kota Kinabalu is, they naturally have a lot of coconuts.

*Think Hawaii

One of the places we stopped at, were simply wooden shacks by the main road that served up coconut. Apart from your normal young coconut, they served two other varieties – Burnt Coconut (Kelapa Bakar) and Coconut with Pudding (Kelapa Puding).

Burnt coconut is basically a skinned coconut that is put on coal and burnt on the outside. When served, its contents are hot, and the coconut flesh peals off simply with a scrape of the spoon. Taste-wise, it’s almost like baked coconut, yet retaining the moist and smooth texture of fresh coconut.

A bit of a history lesson here… Word has it, in the days when forests were burnt to clear land, someone decided to try out some of the coconuts burnt along the way. He/she found that it was good and hence, burnt coconut came about.

*Kelapa Bakar = RM4.00 (USD$1.10)

Kelapa Puding, literally meaning “coconut with pudding”, is a pudding filled coconut. Contents are served cold. Puding Kelapa on the other hand, is simply plain old coconut pudding served in a cup. They serve that too, but why go for the (*Yawn) boring stuff, when you can experience the novelty of having it served in a coconut.

*Kelapa Puding = RM3.00 (USD$0.80)

Honestly, the two coconuts would have made a complete meal. One cooked, and one dessert. Try them when you visit Kota Kinabalu. These road-side stalls are found mostly in the outskirts of the city center.