I Smoked Some Coconut Powder: Now What?

[Chris Amirault]

I was doing some smoking last weekend and had the usual in the Bradley: bacon, peppercorns, sel gris. While I was prepping the little aluminum foil trays I use for those small items, I got a tweet or something from Alex and Aki at Ideas in Food that had the phrase "smoked coconut" in it. I've gone back and searched for that phrase on their site, to no avail, so perhaps it was all a hallucination.

So I grabbed a can of Chaokoh coconut milk powder that had been in my pantry for a while, tossed it on a little foil tray, and gave it an hour with some lovely apple smoke. It smells delicious, but I'm a bit stumped about applications. Thoughts?

[nibor]

On buttered toast?

[Tri2Cook]

I Smoked Some Coconut Powder: Now What?

You'll soon have an overwhelming need for a burrito and some Fritos.

Smoked coconut milk powder sounds really cool. I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with it but I'll have the thinking cap on now. I do a dish that uses shrimp or scallop (depending what looks good at the time) with plantain garnished with coconut milk powder and a few other flavors. A smokey note might be really good with it. Thanks for the idea!

[OliverB]

as anything else, it'll probably go well with bacon?

Of course, there are lots of asian dishes that use coconut milk, I could imagine that quite some of them would benefit from a bit of added smoke.

edit to add:

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but was just thinking that you could also use it on some chocolate desert, maybe something that also has a bit of a cayenne kick? Sweet, bit of a bite, coconut flavor with a touch of "is that bacon?" in it?

Edited September 16, 2009 by OliverB (log)

[Florida]

1) Thai curry

2) Brownies

[twodogs]

the original idea was to use it in mashed potatoes. also could be nice in a gnocchi base, blend the powder with the flour. try mixing with butter and crumbs to use as a crust for fish or duck.

[judiu]

French toast, or pancakes? On ice cream? Dusted into bacon bark? In a pinapple type sauce for a roast pork dish? Dammit, now I'm hungry and I don't even LIKE coconut...

[emilyr]

I made a bacon/dark chocolate truffle for work today, and I think that would be fantastic with it. Also, along the sweet lines, a lime panna cotta or creme brulee. Maybe especially the creme bruelee - I think the smokiness would be fantastic with the burnt sugar taste.

Savory - I'm thinking something with pork. With further thought, I don't know if I'd pair it with bacon. You kinda want the smoky flavor of the coconut powder to come out, not the bacon's.

[Chris Amirault]

Wondering about using it in an eggplant dish of some sort during the winter when I can't get to the grill. Also, Tri2Cook, that shrimp and plantain dish sounds like a good option.

[vice]

Alex and Aki paired theirs with tuna, tomato, and melon (although it was just caramelized, not smoked - here). When I hear smoke and coconut, I think my brain shouts shrimp ever so softly (along with 'beach' and 'beer').

eta: I see they do have a bunch of smoked coconut ideas on their twitter, just haven't posted them to the blog yet. Fingers crossed...

Edited September 16, 2009 by vice (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

That sounds fabulous.

I'd try a bit in my morning hot chocolate--the curry version--and consider how to use it with caramels; a dal curry; how about topping a simple pizza with onions, garlic, and some smoked coconut powder in place of pecorino or parmesan, perhaps with a bit of grated squash and some hot peppers?

I do have coconut powder, but no smoker, sigh.

[Chris Amirault]

There must be a way to incorporate this stuff into or onto a dairy-based cocktail....

[baroness]

There must be a way to incorporate this stuff into or onto a dairy-based cocktail....

Eggnog?

[Tri2Cook]

Yeah, a tropical flavors eggnog might be tasty with it. Or maybe one of those pina colada shakes (the pina colada blitzed with ice cream thing). You could mix it with a little sugar, salt and maybe even some freeze dried pineapple or passion fruit powder for a rim garnish. Of course these may be terrible ideas. I'm not really a cocktail person and, when I do drink them, it's almost never the sweet ones.