5 Vancouver chefs share their love for coconut milk + a Thai Kitchen Prize Pack Giveaway!
For the love of coconut milk. It’s a staple in any Southeast Asian kitchen. Just ask these chefs, or I’ll do it for you!
It’s a must have in curries and many soups, but there are also other ways to use it; for example in desserts, smoothies, baked goods and even in spaghetti and omelettes (from the words of a couple chefs below).
I asked 5 chefs to spill their love for coconut milk, share their tips on qualities to look for when buying it, and also how to use it.
It’s not only delicious and a great way to thicken sauces and soups while adding aromatics, creaminess, richness and sweetness, but it’s also a great dairy alternative, gluten free, and vegan.
Chef/Owner Angus An
Restaurant: Maenam and Longtail Kitchen
1. What are 3 of your favourite dishes using coconut milk?
Dom Kaa (coconut and galangal soup)
Geng Gati (southern style turmeric curry)
Grilled tuna and Green mango salad (a touch of coconut cream is used to enrich the dressing)
2. What is the most unusual sweet or savoury dish you have made or ate with coconut milk?
Durian Sticky Rice at Nahm. The savoury flavours of Durian is balanced with salty and sweet coconut cream cooked with sticky rice. Was a good dessert!
3. What qualities do you look for in an excellent coconut milk?
Flavour and consistency. Sometimes the packaged and canned ones have too much emulsifiers and preservatives.
4. Which dishes at Maenam use coconut milk? What would you never make without it?
Most of our curries, coconut soup, marinades, etc. I would never make Dom Ka without coconut cream. I have seen recipes where people put cream instead of coconut, that grosses me out a little.
5. What’s one of your favourite dishes in Vancouver using coconut milk?
I like our geng gati curry, it’s a southern style curry with lots of coconut milk/cream.
6. Any tips about using coconut milk?
Learn to separate milk/cream/fat from the product. Each has its place in cooking. When you’ve learned how to separate that, you can even reduce the cream until it separates (what we call crack cream) and that rich goodness can help you cook wonderful dishes.
Chef/Owner Ui Ratsomjit
Restaurant: U & I Thai
1. What are 3 of your favourite dishes using coconut milk?
Red Curry, Yellow and Panang Curry
2. What is the most unusual sweet or savoury dish you have made or ate with coconut milk?
“Tom Kha Gai” = Spicy and Sour Coconut Chicken Soup.
3. What qualities do you look for in an excellent coconut milk?
Texture is rich, creamy, buttery and smooth.
4. Which dishes at U & I Thai use coconut milk?
All curries: Examples: Red, Green, Yellow, Panang and Massaman Curries.
5. What’s one of your favourite dishes in Vancouver using coconut milk?
Our award winning green curry with Halibut.
6. Any tips about using coconut milk?
In ANY Curry dish, heat up the coconut milk first before stirring in the curry paste. This will ensure that the flavor of the curry is evenly diffused.
Photo from Vancouver Sun
Chef/Owner Yen Do
Restaurant: Brokenrice Vietnamese Restaurant
1. What are 3 of your favourite dishes using coconut milk?
1) Rice vermiculite fish soup
2) Coconut pandan waffles
3) Thick noodle crab soup
2. What is the most unusual sweet or savoury dish you have made or ate with coconut milk?
Spaghetti
3. What qualities do you look for in an excellent coconut milk?
Look for thick and not too watery.
4. Which dishes at Brokenrice use coconut milk?
Banh xeo and curries.
5. What’s one of your favourite dishes in Vancouver using coconut milk?
Banh tam bi (Thick noodles and shredded pork )
6. Any tips about using coconut milk?
Don’t over cook it.
Chef Lek Tondonoice
Restaurant: Thai House (Richmond location)
1. What are 3 of your favourite dishes using coconut milk?
Kaeng Matsaman – Rich beef curry with ground peanuts
New Zealand Lamb Loin Chops with yellow curry sauce
Horw Mok Maprao – Boneless chicken, coconut meat with red curry sauce
2. What is the most unusual sweet or savoury dish you have made or ate with coconut milk?
Mango Sticky Rice
3. What qualities do you look for in an excellent coconut milk?
The color, thickness, rich smell
4. Which dishes at Thai House use coconut milk?
All curry dishes. Rice with coconut milk.
5. What’s one of your favourite dishes in Vancouver using coconut milk?
Tom-Kah soup – Spicy & sour soup with mushrooms, lemon grass, Thai spices and coconut milk
6. Any tips about using coconut milk?
Coconut milk needs to be refrigerated. Store it in an air tight, easy to use container. Shake it well before using it.
Chef Cutis Luk
Restaurant: Bambudda
1. What are 3 of your favourite dishes using coconut milk?
Sweet Coconut and sago soup with honeydew is a light Chinese dessert soup that’s slightly sweet. There is a base of sweetened coconut milk that’s mixed with small tapioca pearls and dice of melon.
Khao soi is a Northern Thai noodle dish in a red curry-like coconut based sauce. The coconut milk is incorporated into the sauce.
Chicken Satay — the coconut milk is incorporated into satay sauce along with the peanuts to give it an aroma. I like to make satay myself, personally. It’s fairly simple and is flavourful.
2. What is the most unusual sweet or savoury dish you have made or ate with coconut milk?
I add coconut milk to omelettes for a south-east asian flavour. I add about three parts egg to about one part coconut milk, similar to using cream or milk to fortify an omelette. I add cilantro, fish sauce, sometimes a bit of chili. I garnish with some crispy onions, more cilantro, some pickled chilis and maybe some pork floss.
3. What qualities do you look for in an excellent coconut milk?
I like a can that is at least a third to half cream, pure white and clean and fresh smelling simply of coconut.
4. Which dishes at Bambudda use coconut milk?
The yellow curry vinaigrette with beef tongue is based on a Hong Kong preparation of beef tongue, where it’s served with a tomato sauce or an Indian-inspired curry. I wanted to give a Southeast Asian twist so I added the coconut and fish sauce/lime leaf as well.
5. What’s one of your favourite dishes in Vancouver using coconut milk?
The Green Curry at Maenam. I like it because of the distinct taste of herbs and spices, and the good use of the coconut milk when used to cook (such as sautéing the coconut cream) gives it a very appealing aroma.
6. Any tips about using coconut milk?
To get a richer taste and feel of coconut, refrigerate the coconut milk. Refrigerating causes the coconut fat to solidify, like butter, and form a cream on the top, which is what you should use for cooking. and use only the cream on top. The separated water underneath can be used for other purposes such as making smoothies, as a substitution for water in making coconut scented rice, and even as an accent a tropical cocktail.
Follow Me Foodie’s Thai Kithchen Giveaway!
Prize includes: Coconut Milk Lite, Coconut Milk, Original Pad Thai, Green Curry Paste, Plum Sauce, Spicy Thai Chili, Fish Sauce, Coconut Milk, Peanut Satay, Jasmine Rice, Stir Fry Rice Noodle, Year of the Sheep Plush Toy (Retail value: $50)
For more inspiration or ways to use Coconut Milk in your everyday recipes check out Thai Kitchen Canada’s #TKeveryday Recipe Challenge. There’s also $4500 in prizes up for grabs just for voting!
How to enter:
1) Comment on this post with your favourite dish using coconut milk.
or
2) Tweet: RT and follow to enter! Win a @Thai_Kitchen prize pack from @followmefoodie! #Tkeveryday http://bit.ly/1BZEaT0
or
3) “LIKE” the Follow Me Foodie Facebook Fanpage and comment on this post with your favourite dish using coconut milk.
CONTEST CLOSES March 16, 2015
Terms & Conditions:
1. Contest open to Canadian residents.
2. FollowMeFoodie.com retains the right to approve entries.
3. Prize not negotiable, cannot be exchanged or taken as cash.
4. Allow 15 days for prize delivery.
5. If winner does not respond within 30 days of the closing date of the contest another winner will be selected.
This post was sponsored by Thai Kitchen. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.
green Thai curry!!! Nom nom nom!
I love coconut jello (the kind you find at dim sum).
Adobong Manok sa Gata
which is essentially a Filipino dish with Chicken adobo in a Coconut Cream Sauce. Very tasty!!
Chilled Tapioca-Cantaloupe-Coconut Milk Dessert Soup so delicious
I love a good old fashioned green curry with any kind of protein!
Laksa is the best!!
Thai green curry with veggies over coconut rice!
I love using coconut milk to make cook up rice and peas
It would be green curry!
Thai chicken and coconut milk soup.
My favourite dish is yellow curry!
My favourite dish using coconut milk is yellow curry.
Such a wonderful and educating article – thank you, I’ve learned a lot! I was not always a coconut milk lover; it took me a long time to get used to it, but my friends convinced me how good it is for my health, and now I absolutely love it! I didn’t know that I’m supposed to hit the coconut milk first before stirring in the curry paste – I will make sure to do it next time! http://www.rosebowlrestaurant.ca
good recipe. Worth for trying