WE DO NOT SHIP PRODUCTS OUTSIDE
EUROPE
Coconut milk is not the liquid
inside a coconut, although this liquid does make a satisfying drink. Rather,
coconut milk is made by squeezing the grated flesh of a coconut with some hot
water resulting in a rich white liquid that looks very much like cow's milk.
Coconut milk should be
distinguished from coconut cream. Fresh coconut milk, when refrigerated, and
canned coconut milk, if not shaken, separates into two layers, with the thick
(upper) layer being the coconut cream and the thinner (bottom) layer
constituting the milk. The top layer can be skimmed off with a spoon and used
for recipes requiring coconut cream (usually desserts) with the bottom layer
being reserved for recipes specifying coconut milk.
Canned, frozen and powdered
coconut milk are widely available, convenient to use and generally of acceptable
quality. However, they do not generally achieve quite the quality of coconut
milk prepared at home from fresh or desiccated coconut.
For those who might want to try
preparing coconut milk at home, the following provides instructions for doing
so.
A: Preparing Coconut Milk
from Fresh Coconuts
- Pierce the eyes of a fresh
coconut, drain the liquid inside and place the coconut on a rack and bake in
a 325F pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the coconut from the
oven, let it cool a bit and crack it with a hammer so that the shell breaks
into several pieces.
- Remove all the coconut meat
from the shell, peel off the brown skin and cut the meat into very small
cubes.
- Place the meat in a blender,
add hot water to just cover all of the meat and blend until finely grated.
- Place a sieve covered with
cheese cloth over a bowl and pour the coconut meat and water into the sieve
squeezing handfuls of the coconut meat to extract as much liquid as possible
into the bowl.
- Discard the squeezed coconut
meat and refrigerate the coconut milk that has been extracted into the bowl.
Refrigerate the milk and use within 1 or 2 days.
B: Preparing Coconut Milk
from Desiccated coconut.
- Empty an 8 oz package of
unsweetened desiccated coconut into a blender and add 1 cup boiling water.
- Blend for about 30 seconds
and allow the mixture to cool a bit.
- Place a sieve over a bowl
lined with cheese cloth.
- Ladle the mixture into the
cheese cloth, fold the edges over the coconut meat and twist the ends to
extract as much milk as you can into the bowl.
- Discard the squeezed coconut
meat and refrigerate the coconut milk that has been extracted into the bowl.
Refrigerate the milk and use within 1 or 2 days.”
Recipe Courtesy of http://www.all-organic-food.com/index.htm