coconut milk

[princessofgeeks]

I am interested in learning some new recipes that use coconut milk but not curry. The SO can't tolerate curry, but we all love coconut milk. Vegetarian or meat recipes are all welcome.

Comments

[inkstone]

If you're not adverse to shellfish (shrimp, specifically), this is a traditional Filipino dish I love making with coconut milk: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2014/02/02/ginataang-hipon-sitaw-at-kalabasa/

You can use butternut squash and substitute bok choy (or something similar) for the malunggay.

There are many dishes we prepare with coconut milk and it looks like the bulk (or variations thereof) are covered here: http://panlasangpinoy.com/ginataan-recipes/

[loligo]

Thank you so much for that link! I too have been looking to use more coconut milk.

[princessofgeeks]

Thank you so much! These are fabulous resources. Much appreciated.

[alchemise]

Oh yum, that looks great!

[loligo]

Would smoothies be too obvious? I like bananas, coconut milk, plus one other fruit, whatever I've got on hand -- raspberries are especially nice. Sometimes I add a spoonful of some sort of nut butter for extra protein.

[princessofgeeks]

You know, the SO might like those. Good idea; thank you.

[the_shoshanna]

Brazilian Salmon Stew (Moqueca)

Marinade:
cloves from 1/2 head of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp lime juice
3/4 tsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp sweet paprika
2 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1.5 - 2 pounds salmon, cut into largish-bite sized pieces
Olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
1 large bell pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
Salt and pepper
14 ounces coconut milk
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (1-2 cups)

Mix together the marinade ingredients. Let the salmon marinate in this paste for at least 2 hours—the longer, the better.

Coat the bottom of a large pan (a covered skillet or Dutch oven) with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add a layer of sliced onions, and then a layer of sliced bell peppers, and a layer of sliced tomatoes. Place the fish pieces, with the marinade, on top of everything, and start layering again—onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add about half of your fresh cilantro to the top. Pour coconut milk over the top. Drizzle generously with olive oil over the top (several tablespoons).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with rice; garnish with remaining cilantro.

[princessofgeeks]

OMG SPLENDID.

Thank you v. much.

[drgaellon]

We love tom kha - it's a Thai soup with galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk (Thai chiles are optional). It can be made with chicken, shrimp, or just with mushrooms. Here's one recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/tom-kha-gai-8575

[princessofgeeks]

Perfect; much appreciated.

[tameiki]

I went to allrecipes.com and did a search by ingredient. Put in must have coconut milk but not curry and got this. That's my go-to place for recipes. If you read the reviews and comments there are a bunch of great tips as well :)

[princessofgeeks]

Oh, wow. Thank you. You did the heavy lifting for me.

[akatonbo]

I've oven-poached chicken in it. A can of coconut milk is enough for a couple of pounds of chicken, I've done 30min at 400F for 2lbs of tenders and 40min for 2lbs of boneless skinless breasts. I made it to go with this peanut sauce, which you could adapt to not use any curry (I made it with about half what the recipe called for myself and it was so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon): http://shesimmers.com/2009/03/how-to-make-thai-peanut-sauce-my-moms.html

[akatonbo]

Oh, also! Swansons makes a Thai ginger flavored broth which is vegetarian and which makes fantastic soups, one carton of broth to one can of coconut milk. I've done a chicken soup version, because I wanted to test it out for its potential for making and freezing to have gingery chicken soup when I didn't feel well (verdict: OH GOD YES, THAT IS WHAT I WANT WHEN I CAN'T BREATHE), and also a tofu version and both were delicious; mostly I put red bell pepper and celery and baby corn in for veggies.

[princessofgeeks]

This all sounds splendid, thank you SO MUCH.

[eleanorjane]

Coconut rice! Just use coconut milk instead of water when you're boiling rice - it works fine in a rice cooker, too. :)

(I usually use half coconut milk and half coconut cream, for richer, creamier rice, but it works fine with just milk too.)

[princessofgeeks]

I love rice, so this is a great idea. Thank you.

[acelightning]

I like the taste of coconut, but I hate the Brillo-pad texture of flaked coconut in foods.

A couple of quick sweet things. First, combine a can of coconut creme, not milk (make sure to scrape all the white goo out of the can - that's part coconut oil and part finely ground coconut) with an equal volume of heavy cream, and add a little vanilla. Freeze in a home ice cream freezer, and you have coconut ice cream. The emulsifiers and stabilizers in the coconut creme give it a perfect texture. Also, you can use coconut milk instead of regular milk in any cake recipe, reducing the sugar "to taste." Ditto for homemade pudding (the old-fashioned kind you make with cornstarch).

The coconut rice thing works very well, and you can also use coconut milk in the cooking liquid for almost any recipe for fish, shellfish, or chicken. (Although it does taste better with ginger and hot pepper in it - the hot spices and the sweet creaminess sort of balance each other.)

[princessofgeeks]

Thank you! I'm not that interested in trying to adapt desserts to coconut milk, but I honestly did not know you can substitute coconut milk for other kinds of milk in some recipes.

Thank you!!!

[acelightning]

Just adjust the sugar in the recipe, or, if the original recipe has no sugar, you might want to add something tart (a dry wine, regular or rice vinegar, any citrus juice) to balance it. You can make food taste any way you want - it's going in your mouth, after all!

[princessofgeeks]

LOL, yes, it is my mouth. That seems obvious.

My sister loves to cook and went to chef school. She can imagine tastes before they are created, and is so familiar with how different spices blend that she can create recipes.

It's a talent I don't have. I have become a much better cook than I was 20 years ago, but I rely on recipes and not on creativity when it comes to food.

Thanks for the encouragement, though.

[acelightning]

What I mostly meant is that, whatever you care to eat, you're "allowed" to make it taste exactly the way you want it to (or the way you and your companions want it to, if you're dining with other people). And if it's just for yourself, go ahead and make it any way you know you like. But don't be afraid to experiment from time to time; if it doesn't come out tasting good to you, just don't make it that way again. (And ask your sister for advice.)

[princessofgeeks]

Yes to all this.

I just meant that I have no fear of doing what I want -- I don't worry about The Rules -- but I don't have the kind of creative chops yet that allow me to freely experiment. Recipes are good.

Maybe someday!

Thanks again for the encouragement and all the yummy ideas.

[acelightning]

You're welcome! That's what this community is all about :-)

[labellementeuse]

There's a Pacific dish called oka or ika mata. You can google a bunch of recipes, but the gist is that raw fish is marinaded in lime and lemon juice, and then mixed with tomatoes, cucumber, various other vegetables (I do spring onions) and coconut milk for a kind of fish salad. it's really good in summer. here's one recipe and <a href="http://publicaddress.net/cracker/martin-bosleys-ika-mata-and-scott-kellys/>here's another</a>.

[princessofgeeks]

Wow; it sounds like ceviche! Thank you!

[elynross]

I just made a carrot soup that called for just broth, but I used half broth, half coconut milk, just because it sounded good. *g* You could put it in pea soup, or red/yellow lentil soup, or potato soup, or leek soup -- I'd happily use it for at least part of the milk in anything that used milk, and for which it sounded pretty good. For the record, this is the carrot soup, except I couldn't find harissa and didn't want to take time to make it once I found a recipe, so I just mixed up garlic/coriander/cumin/carroway/olive oil/red pepper/red pepper flakes in some proportions and used that. Then added the coconut milk.

And I recommend yummly.com, which has all these recipes with coconut milk. (Smoothies, I forgot about those!)

[princessofgeeks]

This soup sounds great; and thanks for the link to yummy.com. I did not know about them.

[ciaccona]

Coconut black beans with mango and avocado! Still tasty even if you don't have mango/avocado.

I know what I'm making for dinner tonight!

[princessofgeeks]

I will definitely investigate this! Thank you!

[bluemeridian]

I don't have anything to add to the information already provided, but as someone who has two cans of coconut milk in her pantry that she's been staring at for a while and wondering where to start - thank you for asking the question!

[princessofgeeks]

You are so welcome. There's been a plethora of fascinating ideas here. Can't wait to try some of them.

[ranyart]

So, I LOVE this recipe for Thai curry coconut soup made with a roasted pumpkin or squash (I think kabocha is my favorite to use here), and I think you could pretty easily adapt the base recipe to have another flavor element that's not curry paste.

[princessofgeeks]

thank you!

What spices would you suggest instead of curry? This is my weak link.

[ranyart]

Hmmm, some of that depends on what kind of spices you like. Maybe garlic and cumin, and a little lime juice added at the end?

[princessofgeeks]

That definitely works; thanks!

[acelightning]

Ginger - the more the better. Hot pepper and/or black pepper. Garlic, but use it sparingly. Sour/tart/tangy flavors of your choice to cut the sweetness. Salt will also help keep it from tasting like dessert.

To stay away from the "curry" flavor, don't use cumin, coriander, turmeric, mustard, or fenugreek.

[princessofgeeks]

This is great advice, thank you so much.

[acelightning]

Those are the dominant flavors in curry, along with ginger and hot pepper - but you can take ginger and hot pepper in so many other directions that don't taste like curry, I had to go with the more specifically "curry" ones.

Am I correct, though, in assuming that what your partner can't tolerate about curry is the hot pepper?

[princessofgeeks]

You know, I"m not sure. He loves hot chiles in Mexican food and in other contexts.

I have a suspicion it's one of the other spices in the curry. Not the heat.

[acelightning]

I understand. I love hot things myself, but when I first tried Indian food, I hated the taste. I did a little research, and discovered that I simply loathed the flavors of mustard, cumin, and coriander, which is why I know they're some of the major spices in curries. I think that's what your SO doesn't like about curries, too.