How to make your own Coconut milk at home! ~ Mariella

As I am sure you are well aware, I’m nuts about coconuts! Coconut oil, fresh green coconuts, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut cream. There just one problem, all of the above are easy to find except for the coconut cream. Most tins have horrendous lists of stabilizers and additives. My favourite is sodium metabisulfite, which is an inorganic compound of chemicals, formula Na₂S₂O_5.

This chemical has been associated with broncho constriction, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, gastrointestinal disturbances, swelling of the skin, flushing, tingling sensations and shock. Direct contact of sodium metabisulfite with your eyes can cause irritation, pain, stinging, tearing, redness, swelling, corneal damage and blindness. 

Ingesting pure sodium metabisulfite irritates your gastrointestinal system as it reacts with acid in your stomach by releasing sulfurous acid. Ingesting high amounts can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, circulatory disturbance and central nervous system depression. A fatal dose is estimated to be 10 g for the average adult, that comes to approx two R2 coins!

Suffice to say, I’m not so into it! But I do like coconut milk, so I've devised a cunning plan! It’s so easy.

-Take desiccated coconut, pour it into a pot and add approximately double the amount of water.

-Let it boil for 5-10 min

-Remove from heat and allow to cool.

-Run through your Oscar, 

Which happens to be on Sale at Fresh Earth at the moment 

(http://www.freshearth.co.za/store/p-2179-oscar-juicer-da-900-chrome.aspx) 

or other food processor, using the juicing element and viola, you have coconut milk!

It doesn’t keep for longer than two days (which is probably why they load it so full of nasties!) so it’s best to make it on the day you intend to use it. You can also freeze it in an ice tray and add to curries or smoothies.

I did that and had a little left over, which I added to my smoothie.

Today’s smoothie:

-Homemade yoghurt 

(See post : http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-make-your-own-yoghurt.html)

-Homemade coconut milk

-1 white nectarine

-Agave/honey

-Tahini

-Macadamias

-Roasted desiccated coconut and goji berries to garnish

So yum and all before work this morning! It’s so easy and…… I’ll show you next week what I have in mind for the frozen coconut milk in the freezer....!