It’s no secret I love just about anything coconut. I slap coconut oil on my skin, it removes the most stubbornest waterproof mascaras and eyeliners, it makes an excellent hair mask, I love Everyday Coconut’s cleanser, toner and night cream, I scream for vegan coconut ice cream, Zico’s (coconut water) my isotonic sports drink . Hi, I’m Natalie and I’m addicted to coconut.
A few weeks ago grocery shopping in Alcampo’s organic section I noticed amongst the almond, rice and soya milk, coconut milk. Curiosity got the better of me. It wasn’t the normal coconut milk you get in a tin, it was more like almond milk. I mentioned to P I found it and loved it apart from the slight sunflower oil taste (used to thicken it). Being a chef and there’s nothing new, he says yeah, you can make it you know! 1 part desiccated coconut to 2 parts water. Really easy. For someone who always forgets to soak almonds for almond milk when he’s away, I had to try to try it out.
And it’s really easy:
I use 1/2 cup desiccated coconut to 1 cup water, as I only use milk on my morning porridge/oatmeal and with fruit salad and dry oats as an evening snack. I’m not into smoothies, regardless of if they’re made with almond milk, avocados, soya whatever milk, they’re too rich for me. I prefer juices, so I’m not sure how it is in smoothies.
As the mix is so light, I use my Princess mini blender P got for me as he knows I don’t like using the Blendtec (and probably to get me making more juices. I know how he works!). I tend only to make 1 cup of milk at a time, which in the Blendtec is so light, the blender walks across the counter. Plus it sounds like a jet engine and I manage to short circuit the electricity with it. I blitz the mix for about 30-45 seconds, before straining through a nut bag and viola different kind of coconut milk equally as delicious!
The left over coconut in the nut bag, I put in the bin. It really easy to make and as the blender’s small less washing up!
The milk does separate in the fridge, so shake before using and it lasts about 3-4 days before it gets a bit gelatinous. It’s also quite cheap to make, especially if you purchase from the desiccated coconut from nut, dried fruit etc bulk bin shops. An excellent one in Barcelona is Jamie Renobell, in El Borne, who also have a wide variety of organic products.
Have you made coconut milk? What’s your favourite non dairy milk? Smoothies or juices?