COCONUT MILK (nam kathee)

COCONUT MILK (nam kathee): Known as the milk of Asia, it is one of the essential foundations of Thai cooking. Coconut milk has a variety of uses: in cooking, sauces, drinks, curries and desserts. It is made in a method similar to that of olive oil. Mature brown coconuts are cracked open. The meat is scraped from the shells and the thin brown skin is removed from the meat. The meat is soaked in water then blended. The meat/water is squeezed and strained to extract as much liquid as possible. The liquid that rises to the top (separating from the water) is coconut milk. The first pressing of the meat is pure coconut milk (hua ga-ti or nam katee "head of the coconut milk"). The milk extracted from the first pressing has the highest fat content (between 17%-18%). Thai Kitchen Premium Coconut Milk is made from the first pressing and may be used in recipes calling for either coconut milk or coconut cream. This process is repeated again using previously squeezed coconut meat to yield a lighter coconut milk (hahng-ti) "tail of the coconut milk." The second pressing of the meat produces a fat content of 6%. Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk Lite has about half the fat and calories of our regular milk. Some recipes call for coconut cream. For coconut cream, use Thai Kitchen Pure Coconut Milk or, for a richer flavor, spoon off the top layer of an unshaken/unstirred can of coconut milk. Coconut milk can be refrigerated for a few days. It should be thoroughly stirred before use. Most sources recommend the following: “refrigerate opened coconut milk for up to a few days or freeze.” In our research conducted in Thailand we found that coconut milk should NEVER be frozen, as the product may permanently lose its ability to emulsify (this roughly translates as suspending fat molecules evenly within the liquid, creating a smooth product). You may have noticed that when you open a can of coconut milk it has usually separated into two layers, the “cream” on the top with a thinner liquid on the bottom. Normally these two layers are stirred together before they are used in a recipe, unless the recipe specifically calls for “coconut cream” (as opposed to “cream of coconut” which is a sweetened product most commonly used in bar drinks). Freezing coconut milk may permanently separate these two components, resulting in a lumpy product that will not smooth out no matter how much it is warmed or how vigorously it is stirred or shaken after thawing. While perfectly safe for human consumption, once thawed, frozen coconut milk will most likely give whatever recipe you put it into an unappealing, curdled appearance. Furthermore, separated frozen coconut milk is particularly susceptible to “freezer burn.”

Overall, we feel the best storage advice for opened coconut milk is:
-Transfer to a clean, covered container
-Refrigerate for 1-2 days, preferably in the coldest part of your refrigerator
-Avoiding freezing, if at all possible
- Best of all is to use it ASAP