[Sca-cooks] Question about coconut milk...OP

[Elaine Koogler]

Sue Clemenger wrote:
> Dooooode! ;o) I'm looking forward to it! I may have to make it for my own,
> personal Pennsic Pity Party....
> It sounds very, very similar, I think, to the way I make peanut
> curry--started doing it last Lent, when I was craving meat/gravy/etc.,
> although I already liked the curries I'd had at a local Thai place over the
> years.  My basic curry sauce is a can of coconut milk (unable to find a
> local source for unsweetened coconut to make my own), a glomp of crunchy
> peanut butter, a few Tblspoons of fish sauce, varying amounts of red curry
> paste (depending on intended audience).  Good with shrimp or chicken.  Use
> fresh cilantro and lime to finish, if I have it.  mmmmm.....
> I had to make do with Vietnamese spring rolls (steamed shrimp, lettuce,
> cilantro, bean sprouts and cold noodles, wrapped in rice paper and served
> with a sweetish peanut-based sauce) today, and a dish of grilled lemon grass
> beef with rice noodles...mmmmm.....
> (My excuse was, it's just been too d at mned hot to cook, and besides, I was in
> the neighborhood buying a skein of sock yarn and some yarn for a children's
> knitting charity.....)
> --Maire
>
>   
Well...you know that you can buy fresh coconuts and make your own.  You 
scrape all of the coconut out of the shell, add the water from the 
coconut in a cloth or cheesecloth bag and squeeze it.  The coconut 
should be grated for this to work.  When I lived in Papua New Guinea, 
One of the locals made me a grater that could be used to both grate the 
meat and extract it from the shell all in one step.  It consisted of a 
wooden board to sit on and, on one end, a hook-shaped piece of metal 
that had sharp teeth on the outer curved edge.  You emptied the water by 
poking a hole through one of the eyes, then cracked the shell in two.  
You then used the teeth on the hook to scrape the meat out.  Worked 
really well.  We used to cook rice in coconut milk when I lived 
there...great stuff!

Kiri