Category: Coconut

It is the same product – coconut meat powder mixed with water, but coconut cream is thicker and more like a paste. Coconut oil gets the most attention, but the organic food selection menu has a section on other coconut products: flour, flakes, coconut flakes and coconut cream. This is pure coconut meat, shredded and formed into solid blocks that can be broken into pieces and added to sauces or curries at the end of the cooking process. If you can’t afford to buy real coconut cream, you can skim the thick top layer off an unmixed can of coconut milk – that’s the cream. Coconut oil for coconut butter is the same as butter for ghee: it’s made from all the pulp of the coconut, including the fat and delicious solids. Because people perceive the natural release of canned coconut milk as spoilage, most canned coconut milk contains thickeners such as guar gum, especially those sold in Western countries. If you want a thicker coconut curry without adding liquid, use coconut cream instead of milk. Trader Joes has coconut milk, but it’s light. Avoid this and use the full fat version. Coconut milk is made by mixing freshly grated coconut meat with water and then pressing it through a sieve or cheesecloth. It is the pulp of dried coconut. Therefore, dried coconut still has a subtle sweetness. Shredded coconut is used in all desserts, but if you like it, sprinkle it over a bowl of berries and cream, curry, or straight into your mouth. The thick, creamy liquid that results is coconut milk and can be used to make Thai curries and Brazilian seafood stew. Another good option is to check out Amazon, where you’ll find a wide variety of coconut products, all with user reviews. It may look like shortening or hydrogenated lard, but it is not, and it may look like coconut cream, but it is not.