Homemade Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is often a staple for people with food allergies, as well as an outstanding dairy replacement and healthy fat source for those who are adhere to a raw, GAPS or Paleo diet. Fortunately it is very easy and cheap to make at home.

Nutrition

Coconut is incredibly nutritious. Rich in trace minerals including manganese, copper, and selenium, it also contains modest amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, thiamin and folate. Coconut is unusually high in healthy, medium-chain fatty acids like lauric acid (found otherwise only in human breast milk) and caprylic acid (a potent natural antiviral and antifungal).

Oil from coconuts is shelf-stable at room temperature, making it resistant to rancidity and perfect for high-temperature cooking, baking or frying. Coconut oil is known to help reduce both your cholesterol ratio and your waistline, and if that weren’t enough, the water in a coconut has the same mineral and electrolyte profile as human blood plasma!

Selection

Most people use canned coconut milk in their recipes. However, canned coconut milk—like almost all canned foods—contains toxic BPA in the lining of the can which can leach into your food.

Native Forest® coconut milk is currently the only brand that does not use BPA in their coconut milk cans, but they do add a bit of natural guar gum as a thickener.

Another option is to get coconut milk in Tetra paks or cartons. So Delicious® is a very good brand, but you should know their products contain natural guar gum, carageenan, and fortified vitamins and minerals, if that presents an allergy or digestive problem for you. So Delicious is also very thin and low fat; too thin for making yogurt, kefir or coconut whipped cream.

You can also find quality, full-fat coconut milk flash-frozen or in Tetra paks at any good Asian grocery store.

But, for fresher, more nutritious results—not to mention saving a lot of money—it’s easy to learn how to make coconut milk using dry, shredded coconut flakes.

Fresh, homemade coconut milk made from fresh dried coconut is far richer in vitamins, food enzymes and nutrients than coconut milk from a can or box. In fact, fresh coconut milk contains three times as much vitamin C as canned coconut milk and is richer in thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate and panthothenic acid, too.

And, if you ferment your coconut milk into yogurt, you’ll get even more protein and nutrition, as well as a lot of probiotics for your digestive health.

Homemade Coconut Milk

Tools

• Vitamix or good blender
• Nut milk strainer bag, paint strainer bag or fine cheesecloth

• 2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut (where to find the freshest flakes online)
• 4 cups hot (not boiling), pure water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 6 drops stevia (optional)

1. Place shredded coconut in a bowl of hot (not boiling), pure water. Let soak for 1-2 hours. Do NOT discard the water.
2. In the Vitamix or blender, combine coconut, soaking water, and vanilla and stevia, if using. Blend on the highest speed for about a minute.
3. Strain liquid through a nut milk bag, paint strainer bag or very, very fine cheesecloth, pressing out all the liquid you can.
4. Discard solids or save them for adding to baked treats.
5. Use immediately or store in the fridge. Good for 3-4 days. Since there are no preservatives or fillers, the fat in the coconut milk may separate on the top if stored in the fridge. Just shake or stir before using.

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