Buko is young coconut. Its flesh is soft, thin and silky — you can easily scrape it off with a spoon. To compare, the flesh of a mature coconut is niyog, which is thick and hard and needs to be grated off the shell.
The Top 8 Buko Treats for Filipinos
1. buko pie = coconut pie
– associated with Laguna province
– it’s simply a pastry pie filled with young coconut meat
2. buko juice = young-coconut water
– best when drunk straight out of the coconut whose top has just been cut off
– scrape the soft coconut meat out with a spoon
3. pansit buko / pancit buko
– noodle dish where the noodles are coconut strips instead of flour dough
4. sweet buko salad
– soft coconut flesh made with condensed milk and cream
– combined with kaong, nata de coco and canned fruit cocktail
5. buko pandan
– a fruit salad that’s a mix of young coconut flesh and green gulaman flavored with pandanus leaves; made with cream, sugar and coconut milk
Don’t waste your money buying FNC-Nathaniel’s buko pandan. It’s horrible.
6. buko maruya
a maruya is traditionally a banana fritter, but young coconut may be substituted for the banana ingredient
7. buko samalamig
– a street drink that’s like a light shake with sago pearls
8. ice buko
– a popsicle made from young coconut juice, soft coconut flesh and milk; crowned with brown mung beans or red beans
Occasionally, buko is stylistically spelled buco. Have some and enjoy! 🙂
