I was just chatting with Marie, an SDR reader, about coconut milk. Marie mentioned that she used it in place of milk when she made English Muffins Turned Into French Toast. That has my interest.
I'll be honest; I've not tried coconut milk on its own. A sweet friend of mine, Cheryl, uses quite often and she makes an incredible chicken dinner using it. I really need to get her recipe and share with you. Anyhoo.
So now, I'm wondering if you've ever tried coconut milk.
- What do you know about it?
- Do you use it regularly?
- How do you use it in your cooking?
I could always Google 'coconut milk' and its uses, but I'm REALLY interested in knowing what YOU know about it.
I use the sugar free version to make SF coccnut cream pie.
I have used it in coconut cream pie, shrimp in coconut sauce, white chocolate raspberry and coconut muffins…lots of uses and it is so good – especially in Indian dishes!
I just read somewhere that drinking coconut milk after workouts instead of sports drinks is a lot better for you because it has all the good stuff of the sports drinks and none of the bad. So I guess I’ll start buying some cartons soon.
That sounds good, Ben. I’ve been reading up on natural juices. I’ve learned we get more body building enzymes with non-pasteurized juices, which is really truly, natural, fresh squeezed juice. If it comes in a carton, it’s been ultra-pasteurized for longer storage life, only the calories and enriched vitamins are left.
It’s a bit of work, but there’s a way to make your own coconut milk. I found a video.
Watch it here on YouTube.
I will make coconut milk rice, very tasty one.
Most of the south Indian recipes uses it.
I have a recipe that uses coconut milk in lieu of water in a rice cooker. You then add kidney beans and ginger to the brown rice. I haven’t tried it yet, but did find light coconut milk to lessen fat & calories.
I’ve noticed a lot of folks use coconut milk in rice recipes.
I am a BIG coconut fan, so I use coconut milk in many sauces. It is, of course, great in chicken curries, but it adds a unique flavor to noncurry sauces as well. I love coconut oil for any dish that requires a higher heat than olive oil can handle. My favorite coconut milk recipe is here: Foodie Kitchen.com.
Coconut milk in a can is easy to keep around, but some are better than others. My favorite brand is Chaokoh from Thailand.
THANK YOU, Karen for great tips.
I use lite coconut milk in place or regular milk when baking everything from muffins to cookies and cakes. I also use it in making my yummy cream of carrot ginger soup. You cannot tell the difference either. I also make a wonderful tapioca pudding from coconut milk. It is wonderful for a person like me, who is allergic to dairy.
Fresh made raw coconut milk is so naturally sweet and tastes alot like ice cream, but much better. My favorite foods to add fresh made coconut cream and milk to are coconut/fruit smoothies and fresh fruit like peaches with the cream that comes to the top of the milk after I refrigerate it. For the coconut milk I like drinking a small glass of it plain. I also use the milk with cereals and carob with honey.
I also use coconut milk for Thai stir fries. They are super easy and I just throw in whatever veggies I have on hand – add this to the coconut milk, Thai curry paste, ginger and garlic. Any leftover milk is great to cook with rice.
This is all very good information. Keep it coming; I’m learning.
I picked up what I think is a pretty good book on Thai & Asian recipes. I’m REALLY looking forward to cooking my way through it as I shop the farmers’ markets this growing season. Already, I can see that I’ll have to make a few trips to my favorite foodie mart in Dallas, but I’m not too broken up about it ;D
1. Biryani / pilaf
2. Korma
Coconut milk makes rice dishs kind of sweeter, and makes the spices of Korma milder.
For korma, you need only a few spoons of coconut milk, so I empty the rest of the can into ice cube trays, freeze and then transfer the cubes to ziploc bags.
Coconut milk spoils easily, it is best to not keep an open can in the fridge for more than a day.
Thanks Arthi, for the tips. All very good to know.