20 Tins of Coconut Milk

[easternsun]

I found out recently that I will be moving in six weeks.

I did a quick inventory of the pantry and I found 20 tins of coconut milk, two full bottles of olive oil from Italy, five packages of sambar powder, at least 500 grams of mustard seed from Kerala, and a six pack of alcohol free beer A huge bag of quinoa, oats, and two bags of TSP - and a whole lot more! There are going to be some interesting meals for the next month!

Back to the coconut milk: I do a yellow thai curry once a week, so that is four or five cans...but what to do with the rest? Any ideas? I am open to anything and I will try to take photos of the results and post them back here.

Thanks!

[snowangel]

Food shelves are running really low. Think about donating some of it. Depending on where you live, there could be quite a demand for the coconut milk.

[OnigiriFB]

You can donate them to me!

Hrm.. you could try tom kha gai (spicy coconut chicken soup), red or green curry, or some desserts. Quite a few thai desserts use coconut milk. It makes a pretty interesting jello as long as you layer it over something sweeter. Theres a thai dessert that uses a green (pandan maybe) jello on the bottom and a coconut jello on top thats pretty tasty. Just get some agar agar and whatever flavorings.

[sanrensho]

I second tom kha gai, it will definitely make the coconut milk disappear fast.

[fifi]

Order more moving boxes.

[John S.]

I did a quick inventory of the pantry and I found 20 tins of coconut milk, two full bottles of olive oil from Italy, five packages of sambar powder, at least 500 grams of mustard seed from Kerala, and a six pack of alcohol free beer   A huge bag of quinoa, oats, and two bags of TSP -  and a whole lot more!  There are going to be some interesting meals for the next month!

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Please don't eat the TSP

[scott123]

How long has the coconut milk been there for? I don't know if this the packaging conditions or the ingredients, but canned coconut milk doesn't seem to have the shelf life of other canned goods. I have yet to open a can of year plus old coconut milk and have it not be brown/off.

[petite tête de chou]

Coconut milk ice cream? Pina coladas?

[prasantrin]

Pina coladas?

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Ya! Lots of pina coladas!

Actually, I was thinking of using them in other kinds of blended beverages (non-alcholic), too. Like smoothies or something like that.

Thai coconut ice cream is nice way. It's very dense, not like American ice cream. And very coconuty.

Here's a recipe from Colonel Philpott's wife. Some may remember him as a frequent poster to rfc way back when. Wonderful recipes, and at least the linked-to site gives credit where credit is due (unlike some sites out there which pass his wife's recipes off as their own!

Oh, back on topic, there a noodle dish similar to pad thai which uses coconut milk. I actually prefer it to pad thai. If you have a Thai cookbook lying around, I'm sure you'd find a recipe for it. If only I could remember what it's called...

[Austin]

I found out recently that I will be moving in six weeks.

Back to the coconut milk: I do a yellow thai curry once a week, so that is four or five cans...but what to do with the rest?  Any ideas?  I am open to anything and I will try to take photos of the results and post them back here.

Thanks!

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Actually yellow curry (kaeng lueang) doesn't use coconut milk! Maybe you're thinking of kaeng karii, which also has a somewhat yellow color?

Go easy on the coconut milk though, have you ever read the nutritional information on the can? One serving (typically 1/3 of a can) has enough saturated fat for a week!

Austin

[gini]

I'm sad to say that this is my answer to most anything but - risotto!

Sweet risotto with coconut milk, apricots, almonds, raisins etc.

Savory risotto with coconut milk, crab, coriander and lime leaves.

The typical proportions for me are substituting 1 can in place of 1 cup of stock (water for the sweet dishes).

As for the quinoa - quinoa and mango salad with a curried yogurt dressing. This is one of Mr. gini's favorite dishes I make.

How about some sort of sweet potato Vetha Kozhambu for the sambar powder? Of course, you'd have to make huge quantities to use up 5 packages.

Can I have the olive oil? I'm running a little low.

On a side note, I have a friend who recently moved and she brought her entire freezer with her in a cooler including 4 frozen quail that had been in there since the dark ages. If you don't want to move it though, or eat it all, donating is a great option.

[miladyinsanity]

Kaya? It's a sort of coconut jam that, on top of the coconut milk, requires quite a few eggs, sugar, and either pandan leaf juice/flavoring or caramelized sugar.

[Milagai]

Kerala style "ishtew" (=stew?)

Can be chicken or vegetarian.

Has vegetables and is basically coconut milk based

with a lot of spices boiled in it (whole cinnamon, cardamom,

coarsely crushed black peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves,

ginger and green chillies, shallot slices and curry leaves,

you can google for a specific recipe if you like).

Should use up at least 3-4 cans for 1 large bowl.

Milagai

[Pan]

Kaya? It's a sort of coconut jam that, on top of the coconut milk, requires quite a few eggs, sugar, and either pandan leaf juice/flavoring or caramelized sugar.

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Great idea! But don't you mean palm sugar?

[jefferyc]

Beef Rendang

2 inch chunks of chuck marinated in tamerind overnight and braised for several hours in coconut milk.

I've converted vegetarians with it.

Edited January 12, 2006 by jefferyc (log)

[daniellewiley]

I think this rice dish sounds outrageously good. It's on my short list of things to make:

Click!

[Malawry]

I like to use it to make a coconut pudding or a coconut-rice pudding--just sub coconut millk for the other dairy in any recipe. Especially nice with a bitter chocolate sauce on top.

My other go-to coconut milk recipe is a curry--but you already have that!

[easternsun]

I second tom kha gai, it will definitely make the coconut milk disappear fast.

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This one goes on the list...I have enough "thai supplies" that I will be having a little dinner party. Anything I should keep in mind? Tips, tricks?

[easternsun]

Please don't eat the TSP

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I actually like TSP in some dishes as I dont eat the meat.

[easternsun]

Actually yellow curry (kaeng lueang) doesn't use coconut milk!  Maybe you're thinking of kaeng karii, which also has a somewhat yellow color?

Go easy on the coconut milk though, have you ever read the nutritional information on the can?  One serving (typically 1/3 of a can) has enough saturated fat for a week!

Austin

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Austin, I make a prawn and green bean curry with yellow curry paste and coconut milk. I know it is not traditional but I really love the way it turns out. It is one of my favourite things to put in my mouth.

Thanks for thinking of my saturated fat intake levels....I am thinking that my husband and friends will be eating most of this stuff, so I will be ok

[easternsun]

Savory risotto with coconut milk, crab, coriander and lime leaves.

This sounds lovely was kind of stock do you use? I just realized that I have a bunch of prawn shells in the freezer waiting to be made into stock. This could be a good way to use them up.

As for the quinoa - quinoa and mango salad with a curried yogurt dressing. This is one of Mr. gini's favorite dishes I make.

I just found a recipe yesterday on Epicurious for this same thing! It sounds wonderful! I will let you know how it goes.

Can I have the olive oil? I'm running a little low.

2005 was the year of food gifts and my MIL went to Italy two months after I had an Italian exchange student....my cup runneth over! I did a liver detox this week with grapefruit juice and olive oil. I drank that stuff down.

[easternsun]

Kaya? It's a sort of coconut jam that, on top of the coconut milk, requires quite a few eggs, sugar, and either pandan leaf juice/flavoring or caramelized sugar.

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I have a huge jar of Kaya in the fridge....I am feeding my husband nutella and kaya on toast every morning until both are gone!

yum! I just love kaya...everyone needs to try it

[OnigiriFB]

Kaya? It's a sort of coconut jam that, on top of the coconut milk, requires quite a few eggs, sugar, and either pandan leaf juice/flavoring or caramelized sugar.

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I have a huge jar of Kaya in the fridge....I am feeding my husband nutella and kaya on toast every morning until both are gone!

yum! I just love kaya...everyone needs to try it

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Do you have a good recipes? I'm going to get some pandan essence so I can make pandan pound cake and this sounds good too.

[easternsun]

Hi folks,

Thanks for all the replies. Just for clarity, I live in Osaka and I am relocating to Cairns for six months and then joining my husband in Bali for a couple years...at least. Everything we own is going into storage - so all food must go!

I am donating the Japanesey food stuffs to the food bank but I am trying to use up the stuff that I think would be less appreciated/used.

I worked at a food bank every Christmas when I was growing up and I was always a little surprised at some of the tinned food that people would donate. I dont know if a bottle of fish sauce or six pack of non alcohol beer would go over so well. I am sticking to rice, etc.

Prasatrin,

Can I send you some sambar powder and mustard seed?

[prasantrin]

Prasatrin,

Can I send you some sambar powder and mustard seed?

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I can't believe you're moving to Bali! We never even got to have our yoga day! (I still haven't gone...I was thinking of going last weekend but now I'm sick!). There's a pretty active yoga scene in Ubud, if you're going to be around that area. My favourite granola-type cafe/restaurant/store had a yoga studio on the third floor (Kafe on Jalan Hanoman)--I even brough yoga gear with me so I could attend classes, but I never got around to going.

As I was browsing for a banana muffin recipe, I found a muffin recipe that uses coconut milk here. I thought it looked good--has pineapple in it, too, if you have any cans of pineapple lying around. And a coconut bread pudding recipe that will use up two whole cans!

You can send me anything you want! Except maybe the TSP and non-alcoholic beer. I can meet you somewhere to pick it up, too, if it's easier for you. I ditched my Saturday Japanese class, so I have more weekend time free!