What is coconut milk?

Not to be confused with coconut water (the liquid inside a coconut), coconut milk is made by soaking coconut meat in warm water and squeezing it through a cheesecloth. You can buy it in ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ blends both of which should only contain coconut meat and water.

Application

Now this is what really matters, doesn’t it? First of all, coconut milk has a great taste all by itself and you can subsititute it for cow milk in a lot of situations, especially for deserts. Spice up your whipped cream with a cup of coconut milk. You can also use it in your milk shakes and use it as a base not only for curries but for all kinds of sauces.

Where to get it

Few grocery stores stock pure coconut milk, so-called asia markets usually do, though. You should watch out not to pick a brand with added sugar or preservatives. eBay is my resource of choice with prices around 1.60€ per liter. (~2.33$)

Nutritional facts

Coconuts contain lots of saturated fat. At this point, I will not start to take things, studies, citations and analyses out of context. There is no sense in that. Yes, “it is said that… lauric acid raises metabolism (said to be a good thing) and it is also said that lauric acid decreases the total:HDL cholesterol ratio which, again, is said to be a good thing.” And yes, the people on the great island of Tokelau eat loads of coconuts and thus consume unholy amounts of saturated fat while still being very, very healthy. But none of these statements take into account the context or the remaining nutrients (amounts of protein, carbohydrates, MUFA, PUFA). And whenever I see bloggers praise the benefits of saturated fatty acids on HDL and the non-existent correlation between coronary heart disease and cholesterol, I see them not mentioning the unfavorable effects on LDL, the detailed impact on metabolism (e.g. the precise mechanics of artherosclerosis) and the caveats most studies also bring up. I do not want to be another one of them.

So let’s keep this to the facts and use some common sense:

• Coconuts are made by nature (and have been for millions of years).
• Extracting the meat and making the milk does not involve a lot of processing.

That makes me guess that eating coconuts (and drinking coconut milk) is unlikely to do harm. And as always: Everthing in moderation!