Pantry
Coconut milk
Also called coconut, coconut cream
The white flesh of the coconut, and the milk and cream pressed from it. In this kitchen the tin is usually the ingredient: full-fat coconut milk for curries, thicker cream for richness.
Origin
Tropical coasts of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The canned milk is a factory version of a mortar-and-pestle job that moved with Austronesian and later trade.
Flavour
Sweet, rich and floral. Good milk tastes of the fruit; old tins taste metallic or soapy.
How it is made
Grated mature flesh is squeezed with water, then left to settle. The thick top is cream; the thinner liquid is milk.
How to use it
Shake or stir the tin so cream and water recombine, unless you want the thick cap for frying a curry paste. Simmer rather than a hard boil if you need the sauce to stay together. Add coconut milk after the paste has fried. For mango sticky rice, warm the milk with salt and sugar and pour it over steamed glutinous rice. Do not use drinking coconut water as a swap for milk — it has no fat.
Storage
Unopened tins in the pantry. Leftover milk keeps a few days in the fridge and freezes in portions.
Recipes using it
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