Vietnamese Coconut Candy (Mứt Dừa)

Cut the coconut in half. Using the back of a knife or cleaver, tap the coconut along the center. Turn the coconut and repeat until it cracks open.

Lightly steam. Place the halved coconut in your steamer and steam over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes. Remove the coconut from the shell by running a butter knife along the edge and then peel the outer brown edge with a vegetable peeler.

Shred into strips. Then using the peeler, shred the coconut into long strips. Then wash the coconut strips with water until the water runs clear.

Add the sugar. Toss the coconut with sugar, salt, and vanilla sugar until combined. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight. The sugar should dissolve completely and form a syrup at the bottom of the bowl.

Divide and color. Divide the coconut strips into three separate bowls and evenly divide the sugar syrup as well. Add the pandan extract to one bowl, the food coloring to another bowl, and leave one bowl white. A little will go a long way. The color will darken as you cook it.

Cook. Working with one bowl at a time, add the coconut and the sugar syrup to a medium pan over medium-low heat. Gently toss the coconut continuously until it dries and turns opaque about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining bowls.