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TRADITIONAL JAMAICAN COCONUT RUNDOWN
RECIPE
Ingredients:
2 medium-sized dried coconuts (available in Caribbean or Latino
food stores)
Just enough water to chop coconuts in blender
Yields approximately 1 cup of rundown, a mixture
of about 1/3 oil and 2/3 custard.
Most recipes for rundown use canned coconut milk instead
of fresh coconut for ease of use. However, this traditional rundown
recipe uses real dried coconuts. Rundown is really “boiling
down” coconut milk to form a custard and coconut oil. Nothing
else is required except a dash of salt. While most rundown recipes
involve chicken, fish, vegetables, it can also be eaten as a
dip for roasted breadfruit. The custard, which is slightly sweet
and nutty, is delicious, and the oil, despite what you may have
heard, is a very healthful oil. I am not suggesting that you
go out and drink significant quantities of coconut oil, but you
should not run from it either.
I suspect this traditional recipe which is used in rural Jamaica
is a Jamaican rendition of the West African use of palm oil.
This recipe therefore takes a different approach in providing
a way to make traditional rundown to which you may prepare and
add fish, meat, vegetables to create other rundown dishes. You
can draw inspiration about how to add fish, meat, and vegetables
to this basic rundown recipe. I suggest you prepare your chicken,
fish, meat or vegetables separately and add them to the rundown
to create chicken rundown, fish rundown, meat, or vegetable rundown.
Process
Break open the coconuts. Taste to ensure they coconuts are fresh.
Remove the coconut “meat” from the shell with a knife.
This is dangerous as you run the risk of cutting yourself. Therefore
you should proceed cautiously until you get the hang of it. Cut
the coconut “meat” into small pieces and chop up in
a blender using the chop setting. Chop coconuts in batches so
as not to overload the blender.
Blend the coconut in batches until the coconut is a fine consistency
and the liquid resembles milk. Use a large strainer to separate
the coconut from the milk. Hand squeeze any remaining milk from
the residue. You can discard the residue or save it for use in
the coconut drops
and coconut
filling for gizzadas recipes.
In a large uncovered cooking pot bring the coconut milk to a
rapid boil then reduce the flame to medium and cook until the
water evaporates and what remains is a combination of clear liquid
(oil) and custard (see picture below). This takes approximately
1 to 11/2 hours. Add salt to taste. As
it cools, the custard will absorb most of the oil. Chicken, meat,
fish or vegetables can now be added to the mixture.
 coconut rundown
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