Coconut milk substitution

[Sprout]

Last night we had a few friends over and I used some of my plethora of leftover turkey to make curry. I loosely based it on a recipe I found for a Thai coconut curry. I realized halfway in that this was not going to be enough food, even with the rice and quinoa. I had plenty of all the ingredients to double it except the coconut milk, so I improvised. Instead of the coconut milk, I simply used soymilk and a bit of coconut flavoring. Voila! It worked perfectly.

So if you're ever in a pinch and need a last-minute substitute for coconut milk, soy milk and coconut flavoring will work. Regular milk would probably work reasonably well under the right conditions, but as my recipe had a fair amount of lime, I opted for the soy milk to avoid curdling. Plus it just seemed like it would be closer in flavor.

[Zereh]

Very good to know!

I was making a quiche one time and ran out of milk ... so I used coconut milk! Which led to me sprucing up veggies with some curry paste as I sauteed them. It was outrageously good.

Gotta love it when the creativity kicks in and the substitutions work like a charm.

[Sprout]

That does sound good!

[Kitchen Barbarian]

I hate the flavor of coconut. I cannot abide even the scent.

So I substitute in evaporated milk instead. Sometimes I flavor it with saffron or other spices, depending on the dish I'm using it for.

No, it doesn't have any coconut flavor - that's sort of the POINT, for me, but it does give the creamy texture.

[Kylie1969]

Thank you for the tip Sprout, very good to know

[PhilinYuma]

Originally Posted by Kitchen Barbarian

I hate the flavor of coconut. I cannot abide even the scent.

So I substitute in evaporated milk instead. Sometimes I flavor it with saffron or other spices, depending on the dish I'm using it for.

No, it doesn't have any coconut flavor - that's sort of the POINT, for me, but it does give the creamy texture.

Ha ha! I was just talking to The Kid, a great lover of coconut milk and an ardent proponent of "real" coconut milk over the reconstituted kind. I read her your post. That is the first time I have ever seen anyone roll their eyes over the phone!
Cheers

[Kitchen Barbarian]

Originally Posted by PhilinYuma

Ha ha! I was just talking to The Kid, a great lover of coconut milk and an ardent proponent of "real" coconut milk over the reconstituted kind. I read her your post. That is the first time I have ever seen anyone roll their eyes over the phone!
Cheers

Its sort of a shame that your friend is so unaccepting of the tastes of others.

For those who hate coconut, don't worry about the reaction of coconut bigots. I guarantee you, there is something those people can't stand to eat too, so don't let it worry you, feel free to dispense with the awful (to us) stuff without guilt.