Coconut Milk

Derived from the meat of a mature coconut, this milky and white cooking base gets its color and taste from its high content of oil and different sugars. Coconut milk should not be confused with coconut water, or coconut juice, which is the liquid often found within a coconut, coconut water has a much lower count in both fat and calories than coconut milk.

 

There are two types of coconut milk, thick, made by squeezing coconut meat through cheesecloth and then processed with warm water, and thin, which is made by just repeating the process of making thick coconut milk two or three times. Thick coconut milk is mainly used in desserts and sauces while the thin is more popular in soups and other kinds of cooking.

 

Massproduced coconut milk is sold through the western world in cans, where no distinction between thick and thin is made, since coconut milk is usually not produced in this part of the world. Depending on the brand and age of the milk, a thicker and pastier version of the milk can start forming within the can, this is called coconut cream and can be separated from the milk and used in different types of cooking. However, since people think that the coconut milk is spoiled when they open the can and see the coconut cream, some companies have started to add thickening agents to the cans of coconut milk to prevent coconut cream from forming.

 

Coconut milk can also be fermented and turned into an alcoholic beverage popular under the name of coconut rum and has its main production facilities on the Solomon Islands. In Brazil coconut milk is mixed with Cachaça, a liquor made from fermented sugarcanes to make a cocktail known as Batida de Coco. The world famous drink called Piña colada can either contain coconut cream or coconut milk.