I love using coconut milk in food. The creamy canned variety is great in a curry or creamy soup. It has great versatility and is a vegan cooking staple.
But this great ingredient has a bad side. If you have a can in your house, check out the ingredients. You might be surprised on what's in there.
You can find coconut milk that has cleaner ingredients, but it's hard. Also, the lining of the can contains the highest BPA content of almost all canned foods. This chemical hasn't been banned in the USA, although it has been banned in most of Europe. Check out this comprehensive article here on the more controversial aspects of coconut milk. Who would've thought? I take the better safe than sorry approach here. Also, I'm on a quest to reach the stage where the most unprocessed versions of food enter my house. This is a huge step in that direction.
So I used my magical google powers to find an alternative.
I had unsweetened dried coconut flakes on hand, so I started with that.
I took about 1.5 cups of coconut and blended it with 5 cups of water. Blend for about 5 minutes, then check. Your coconut milk will be warm, due to the extended blending. If it still has a lot of clumps, keep blending. Blend until most chunks are gone, but some texture won't kill you. You can strain it if needed, but for most applications the remaining flakes will be fine.
Congrats! You just made a whole bunch of coconut milk that is healthier for you...and probably cheaper!
At about $2.00 for a can of coconut milk, and about $2.00 for a POUND of unsweetened coconut at my grocery store, I can safely say that homemade is much cheaper.
But this great ingredient has a bad side. If you have a can in your house, check out the ingredients. You might be surprised on what's in there.
You can find coconut milk that has cleaner ingredients, but it's hard. Also, the lining of the can contains the highest BPA content of almost all canned foods. This chemical hasn't been banned in the USA, although it has been banned in most of Europe. Check out this comprehensive article here on the more controversial aspects of coconut milk. Who would've thought? I take the better safe than sorry approach here. Also, I'm on a quest to reach the stage where the most unprocessed versions of food enter my house. This is a huge step in that direction.
So I used my magical google powers to find an alternative.
I had unsweetened dried coconut flakes on hand, so I started with that.
I took about 1.5 cups of coconut and blended it with 5 cups of water. Blend for about 5 minutes, then check. Your coconut milk will be warm, due to the extended blending. If it still has a lot of clumps, keep blending. Blend until most chunks are gone, but some texture won't kill you. You can strain it if needed, but for most applications the remaining flakes will be fine.
Congrats! You just made a whole bunch of coconut milk that is healthier for you...and probably cheaper!
At about $2.00 for a can of coconut milk, and about $2.00 for a POUND of unsweetened coconut at my grocery store, I can safely say that homemade is much cheaper.
I used this coconut milk last night to make a ton of Thai sweet potato lemongrass soup. It was delicious.
Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland.
mmm coconut. and OMG that soup sounds amazing. i've never used lemongrass. it intimidates me for some reason. RECIPE PLEASE!!
ReplyDeleteIt's not really a recipe, but here's how I make it. I know you gots the skills to figure it out.
DeleteGarlic, ginger, onion sauteed in a big pot. Add some sort of chopped pepper (thai chili, jalapeno if that's what you have, etc). Add lemongrass (take off outer stalks, bend a couple of times to release juices, chop into 2" or so pieces) and chopped sweet potatoes. Add coconut milk, lime juice and zest, and salt. Stir, make sure that the coconut milk covers the sweet potatoes. Add water if needed. Cook the soup until the potatoes fall apart. Remove lemongrass pieces. Serve with cilantro on top.
Let me know if you make it!