Easy Coconut Milk Recipe With Desiccated Coconut

Believe it or not, there are various useful products you can get from desiccated coconut. If you adore the taste and nutrition of coconut milk, this post will explain how to make coconut milk from desiccated coconut. So, challenge yourself to make some at home!

Why Bother Making One When You Can Just Grab at the Store?

Making coconut milk costs you time, energy, and effort in general. Although you can choose any coconut milk brand you are familiar with, there are better reasons for you to produce homemade versions. Here are several advantages you can get from making homemade coconut milk :

• An alternative option in case you are living somewhere with volatile coconut milk supplies. Hence, you can make and store them according to your needs.
• You have control over the fat level, can add flavor, and avoid the use of additional refined sugar, preservatives, coloring, or emulsifier.
• You may use the leftover coconut pulp for another cooking purpose.
• It saves you money!

Related Article: How Long Do Coconuts Last? How to Tell If Coconut Is Bad?

Steps On How To Make Coconut Milk From Desiccated Coconut

The ingredients you need are pretty simple. Here’s what you need and the steps you should follow.

Ingredients:

• Desiccated coconut
• Hot water (not boiling water).

The suggestion for the ratio of the ingredients goes from 1 (desiccated coconut): to 2 (water).

Utensils:

• Bowl, blender, or food processor (higher speed is better)
• Measuring cup
• Pot
• Cheesecloth or nut bag
• Strainer or sieve

Steps On How to Make Coconut Milk from Desiccated Coconut

1. The first thing you should do is soak the desiccated coconut in water to release the fat. Put the desiccated coconut in the bowl and pour the hot water into it.
2. Let it rest for 10 minutes up to 1 hour. The soaking duration will affect the milk’s consistency and flavor.
3. Later on, pour the mixture of desiccated coconut and water into a blender or food processor. Then, blend them at high speed to ensure they are well-blended.
4. Next, you can choose to use a strainer, sieve, nut bag, or cheesecloth to strain the milk mixture.
5. Squeeze out the coconut mixture directly using your hands if you use a sieve or strainer. Otherwise, strain the mixture using cheesecloth or a nut milk bag to release the liquid. This is the step where you will get your coconut milk from.
6. Then taste the consistency to match with your liking. If you want or need to extract more liquid, then you can just blend the pulp with an additional cup of water. Then, repeat the steps.

Related Article: Tips on How to Store Coconut Products for Long-Term Use

How Should You Store Homemade Coconut Milk?

After following the recipe, you also need to know how to store them properly. You need to preserve it in the best way for the longest shelf life so you can use them without losing the quality.

You have to keep it in an airtight or sealed container or jar in your fridge. It is also suggested to use a container with a wide mouth for easy removal.

Where Can I Find Coconut Supplier to Make Coconut Milk?

FAQ

Can you use desiccated coconut to make coconut milk?

Yes, because desiccated coconut is quite versatile. You can make coconut butter and coconut milk by boiling the desiccated coconut with hot water, with 1: 2 ratio.

How do you soften desiccated coconut?

You merely need to mix the desiccated coconut with warm water. But, you need to consider and measure the amount of the water before mixing and moistening the desiccated water. Otherwise, you might end up making a coconut milk mixture rather than softening the desiccated coconut.

Prepare the desiccated coconut in a bowl, and also warm water in a measuring cup. After that, pour the warm water until it covers 1 cm above the desiccated coconut in the bowl. Using your clean hands, help the desiccated coconut to quicken water absorption by kneading for about 20 seconds.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and leave it for 1 hour. Then, clear out the water it produces and squeeze the moisture from the coconut flesh through the sieve. These will soften the desiccated coconut and make it look like fresh coconut flesh.

How to make coconut milk without a blender from desiccated coconut?

There is a more traditional method to generate coconut milk using desiccated coconut. You need a bowl, one liter of warm water, a strainer, or moistened cheesecloth. Before proceeding, wash your hands thoroughly.

Place a flat strainer on top of a bowl, and afterward pour down the desiccated coconut into the strainer. Then, pour the warm water into the strainer little by little, while doing so, start to knead and squeeze the desiccated coconut with clean hands until it releases coconut milk. Do this process repeatedly.

If you’d prefer to use cheesecloth, you need to change a bit of the method. First, put the desiccated coconut in a bowl and pour in the warm water. Let it sit to cool down.

Afterward, in another bowl, lay the moistened cheesecloth and pour the mixture of desiccated coconut and water little by little into this bowl. Then, gather the edge side of the cheesecloth. Squeeze the cloth tightly to release the coconut milk until the last drop you can get from it.

Can you use dried coconut to make coconut milk?

Yes, you can make coconut milk out of dried coconut with warm water. The steps are very similar to the ones with desiccated coconut but you need some extra adjustments.

First you need to rehydrate the dried coconut. To do this, boil water and pour it into a bowl with dried coconut in it. Let the dried flesh absorb the water for around 1 hour to rehydrate.

It is suggested to boil the mixture later after it reaches room temperature. This tip helps you to strain the mixture from its natural oil. When it’s ready, blend the mixture at high speed using your blender.

Afterward, all you have to do is to squeeze the milk out of the mixture using a sieve or strainer, and cheesecloth or nutbag accordingly.