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Why doesn't my coconut sauce have a strong coconut flavor similar to what is served in Thai restaurants? Do they use real coconut or coconut essence or coconut oil? I use a can of coconut.

Preston
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donna
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    By "a can of coconut", do you mean unsweetened coconut milk? Without getting into extracts or essences, unsweetened coconut milk is about as strongly flavored of coconut as anything you'll be able to find. Unsweetened coconut milk is the basis for the coconut flavor in every sauce recipe I could find in ten minutes of looking. – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 03:18
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    A recipe would be very helpful. Could you share with us the ingredients for your sauce? – Preston May 25 '14 at 06:06
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    It has been my experience that the flavour of coconut dissipates if you boil the dish at all, and is more or less altogether gone after about forty-five minutes to an hour. If you want a clear flavour, you should add the coconut milk as late as possible in the cooking. – razumny May 25 '14 at 13:12
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    Sorry, but yes, I did mean unsweetened cocount milk. I ocassionally make different kinds of sauces, so there is no particular recipe that I have in mind. I went to a Thai restaurant recently and had coconut-curried veggie stir fry, and the coconut was difinitely stronger tasting that what I have made. This is not the first time that I have noticed that my coconut flavor is weak as compared to eating out. – donna May 28 '14 at 01:11

2 Answers2

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Canned coconut milk is the base of the majority of savory coconut sauces, Thai or otherwise. It tastes of coconut, but it isn't strongly flavored. If your coconut milk separates (some do, some don't; added emulsifiers inhibit this separation) the thicker layer that rises to the top is coconut cream. Basically coconut cream is coconut milk with less water and more fat. The cream is somewhat more intensely flavored of coconut than the milk, but alone it may be too thick for a lot of sauces.

Coconut milk is made by cooking the meat of the coconut (usually in water, sometimes in dairy milk) and then straining the coconut meat. It is not coconut water, coconut water is the juice that flows out of a just cracked coconut.

Do not confuse coconut milk or coconut cream with cream of coconut, which is usually sweetened. That ingredient is often called for in desserts, but not for savory cooking. Think Pina Coladas. This is a source of some confusion as different countries use different terminologies. Wiki certainly is not the best possible source, but if the language I am using here differs from your understanding of the terms, read this from wiki. Those are the definitions I am using in this answer.

The quality of canned coconut milk varies. It also is available in a "light" formulation, which tastes less strongly of coconut than non-light versions.

One traditional method seen especially in Thai cooking involves "cracking" the cream. Choose a non-light canned coconut milk without added emulsifiers (check the label). Refrigerating the can overnight can sometimes help separate the cream, figure about the top third of the settled contents of the can. Simmer that cream on the stove until the oil separates, it may take as long as ten minutes. The oil separation is the "cracking". Now you can fry the spices of the sauce (curry paste especially) in the oil (no need to remove the non-oil solids). Add the rest of the can of milk and simmer for a while to reduce the sauce to your desired thickness. Some meat can be cooked in the sauce, vegetables are usually par-cooked separately.

[EDIT: This video shows Cracking Coconut Cream at 2:20 --- This video shows an alternative, for those that have difficultly getting their cream to separate at 4:10]

Beyond that, to get more coconut flavor you can add coconut powder (which is dried coconut milk) or coconut extract (here's a fun recipe from Alton Brown) but neither of those additions would be traditional.

Jolenealaska
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    I've never heard of cream of coconut, but I have used creamed coconut before, which is not sweetened. It is a solid block of coconut meat and very coconutty.http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creamed_coconut – ElendilTheTall May 25 '14 at 17:31
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    @ElendilTheTall That is *almost* unheard of here. Side by side in a sauce, I bet it would be similar in intesity to coconut powder. The different names for coconut products get confusing, especially across international borders. – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 17:41
  • It's an imported product here for sure, found in Asian supermarkets and occasionally in regular supermarkets. – ElendilTheTall May 25 '14 at 18:44
  • "Cream of coconut" is actually the same thing as Coconut Cream. They are both the same product which is full of emulsifiers and sugars and used in desserts and drinks. As @ElendilTheTall says, there is a different product called "creamed coconut" which is the dehydrated meat. But I wouldn't refer to the thick part of the milk as coconut cream, unless you want to confuse people; that's still definitely coconut *milk*. – Aaronut May 25 '14 at 22:32
  • @Aaronut Look [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_cream) and [here](http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-coconut-m-75446) and [here](http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/coconut_cream.php). Our different terminologies are an example of different word choices across borders, but I'm certain that Thai chefs generally refer to the more solid milk that rises to the top of the can as cream. That's why I tried to make it clear in the answer. The "creamed coconut" that Elindil mentions is *not* what is used in Thai curries. – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 23:00
  • @Aaronut http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/19456/how-do-i-prevent-coconut-milk-from-separating-in-thai-curry/39683#39683 This answer too. – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 23:03
  • @Aaronut Last ones: [Coconut milk information from a native of Thailand and expert in Thai cuisine](http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/cocmilk.html). Also ATK calls it "coconut cream" too. Their description of "Cracking the Cream": "1. Skim solid layer of cream from can of coconut milk to yield roughly 3/4 cup. 2. Simmer cream in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until cream is texture of yogurt and sizzles at edges, 7 to 12 minutes." – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 23:53
  • That's all well and good, I'm sure, but it's nowhere near a universal term. I even took a picture of a can of "coconut cream" in my [coconut ganache Q&A](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/11872/41), bought from a T&T - an Asian food store. You can see that it's definitely *not* the creamy part of coconut milk, it's an entirely separate product. – Aaronut May 26 '14 at 00:18
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    @Aaronut Funny I read those great answers yesterday. I know that the terms are not universal, that's why I made a point of explaining the terms I was using. I added further clarification in the text of the answer, but beyond that I don't know what more I can do. – Jolenealaska May 26 '14 at 00:26
  • Thanks for your suggestion of removing the cocount cream from the coconut milk. I just picked up a can today and will try it this week. I went to a Thai restaurant recently and had coconut-curried veggie stir fry, along side coconut white rice, and the coconut was difinitely stronger tasting that what I have made. This is not the first time that I have noticed that my coconut flavor is weak as compared to eating out. I've always wondered why my cocount flavor is not as strong. – donna May 28 '14 at 01:14
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Assuming they do it the traditional way (or the same way the Indians and Sri Lankans do) - they almost certainly squeeze it fresh.

Basically you want the dehusked "older" coconuts not the green ones, or grated (not dried) coconut. Add a tiny bit of water, blend it, and squeeze (by hand). This is the good stuff - and what you'd either add at the end (if you don't want it split), or heat up to split out the oil.

You can actually extract a second run with more water, for things that don't need the higher creaminess factor or when you don't need to seperate out the oil

We do occasionally use coconut cream - and as I understand it, its supposed to be the meat of green coconuts just blended . I'm unsure if these will separate into oil if we heat it.

The brand we tend to use (sparingly, since its pretty thick) -kara tends to list young coconut extract and stabilizer. If you can get it, it works well, but in smaller quantities than actual coconut milk.

I'd also (from entirely cultural bias!) suggest adding the coconut milk at the end, after taking it out of the heat, unless you need it to seperate. 'Heated' coconut milk has a very different flavour, especially if the fat separates.

Interestingly I've never heard of coconut cream being a product that floats to the top of coconut milk until today, and the extraction methods in Joelene's answers are significantly different from mine, and one way of doing things may work better in specific situations than others.

Journeyman Geek
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