Krataai Khut Maphrao (Coconut-Grater "Rabbit") — a Wooden Seat with a Toothed Iron Blade That Shreds Coconut Fine

"Villagers scrape the coconut lightly, not pressing too hard, because that makes the coconut milk hard to squeeze out. If it is scraped lightly the coconut flesh comes off in fine shreds, so the coconut milk is easy to squeeze out and there is more of it." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Make a hardwood body as a long seat with legs at both ends, one end carved or built up as an animal's head, such as a rabbit. Cut a slot at the mouth for the toothed blade. Size it to a comfortable sitting height.

Cut stainless steel sheet into a round plate, file its front edge into small teeth like a saw's, as in the real photos, and smooth the edge that is fixed to the mouth.

Lay the toothed plate flat on the mouth at the end of the wooden body, with the toothed edge sticking out forward, and fix it firmly with screws.

Real photos of a กระต่ายขูดมะพร้าว (krataai khut maphrao) from พิพิธภัณฑ์พื้นบ้านหนองบัวโคก บุรีรัมย์ (Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram) (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Sit astride, or sit with your legs folded to one side of the coconut grater, and scrape the coconut flesh against the teeth lightly, without pressing hard, so it comes off in fine shreds. Scrape only while preparing the meal, because scraped coconut left for long goes sour.

In the central and north-eastern regions it is called krataai khut maphrao, in the south lek khut, and in the north maew khut maphrao or ngong. Later the body was also made as other animals, such as a cat, dog, bird, rat, lion, turtle or monitor lizard. It is used less today, as there are hand-cranked and motor graters and ready-made coconut milk. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, database of traditional everyday objects, "กระต่ายขูดมะพร้าว", author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (licence CC BY 4.0), from the Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram. **Limits.** The source gives no sizes; the sizes in the model are examples. We use stainless steel sheet instead of iron plate.