Coconut milk! A great non-dairy creamer...
 

[I originally posted this on the Atkins thread, but was told it might receive interest here as well]
Picked up a can of coconut milk for 69 cents. 1/4 cup is only 1.5g
carbs. And you certainly wouldn't use that much to lighten your tea.
Heavy cream is 1g per 15ml, which is a tablespoon. I like my tea a bit
creamier, so I can be more liberal with the coconut milk. Ups your fat
and tastes good too! Thought I'd share my discovery...

Great idea, thanks (if I can find some).

Can someone tell me what coconut milk looks like (cow milk)? I got a coconut one time... broke it open and poured out this clear liquid (that tasted strange). Is this coconut milk?

Coconut milk comes in a can. It looks like regular cow's milk. Sometimes the consistency is thicker from can to can, so it can be more like a thick cream instead of a liquidy milk.

The stuff from the actual coconut is watery and clear. I had one once and hated it. I love coconut milk from the can though.

Thank you for posting that. I certainly will try it.

The "coconut cream" sold in cans is, I believe, pulped coconut flesh which is pressed to remove anything that can be pressed out of it! It is the consistency of thin cream and is used widely in asian and indian cooking. We use heaps of it in Aus. and every supermarket chain has its own cheap generic one. Mostly comes from Thailand.

My fav. pumpkin soup for the winter (it's winter here now) is:

About 2 kg chopped peeled very ripe pumpkin
3 lge onions chopped
250g bacon chopped
can coconut cream (the tall one about the size of a baked bean can)
various asian spices such as salt, asafoetida *, pepper, curry powder and turmeric

beef fat.

1/2 litre boiling water

finely chop bacon and onions and fry in fat until soft
Throw everything into large pot (one of those old fashioned slow cookers is great)

cook until pumpkin falling apart

blend with a stick blender such as a "bamix". You should see the obsolete machinery I have in my kitchen!

eat on a cold day and die with pleasure.

If you are into dairy, also use sour cream.

Michael Gardner
Australia

* Asafoetida (Hing) powder is one of those things that smell like a boy's gym when raw, but delicious when cooked. Along the same principle as Vietnam fish sauce, parmesan, you get the idea. If you ever, in your misguided days, ate at a Hari Krishna restaurant and burped up a delicious onion and garlic aftertaste, that was asafoetida because vedic cookery prohibits the use of garlic and onion. I keep mine sealed in a container which is sealed in another container!

Where's the coconut??
 

Hey all, where would you find this coconut milk in the grocery? What section?

Thanks!
paula

I usually find it in the "international" section, with the hispanic foods.

Thanks, mio--
 

I will check it out. We have a Mexican section; I'm thinking that would be the same thing?

paula

I bought 2 cans of it the other day. I just used some in a Neanderthin style protein shake.

yah... thanks, all!

I will have to try and find some at the grocery store and try it. Sounds delicious!

Well I tried it in my tea and I was NOT impressed so I won't be doing *that* again.

I think I will just cook with the stuff.

I prefer the premium coconut milk as opposed to the lite, but it seems that the lite coconut milk is easier to find.

I found coconut milk in the 400mL (13.5oz) can for $1.89 (kinda high, especially compared to some other posts here). I found it in the "baking" section (where they have the bags of coconut flakes, and all the sugar and flour, and all that nutritious stuff!). :lol: There were two brands (one with guar gum in it). The stuff with the guar gum was extremely thick! It tasted funny (very bland, not even like coconut). The one without guar gum was about the consistency of half and half, but with very tiny flakes in it. It tasted great! Kinda sweet, like coconut. There was nothing in it but coconut and water. I drank the whole can. Is that bad? Too much? They also had a "lite" one that was suppose to be "low fat"... but what's the point? I was buying it for the fat! So, is this stuff mainly for cooking? What else can you do with it? Someone mentioned putting it in a shake? How much should one drink a day? Please tell? And, I have had no luck on finding coconut butter/oil. What does that stuff look like? And in what area of the supermarket are people finding it?


Thanks!

Deano,

does your store have an organic section? With the organic cereals, chips, jams, peanut butter, etc.? That's where I found the coconut oil--the ONLY place, by the way.
paula