Any way to reduce the tangy taste of homemade coconut milk?
I make different kinds of non dairy milks (nut, rice, etc). I rather like coconut milk, but would like to reduce the natural tangy coconutty flavor.
I was looking at the following question: Homemade coconut milk in coffee compared to store bought
Someone was suggesting that the industry adds tri-calcium phosphate. I have no idea if that is available to the public or even if that would work. Any thoughts?
Edit: I believe my question is somewhat different from the one above as it doesn't specifically relate to coffee. I think this small factor might influence the answers. This question has generated different answers to the question.
Best Answer
Best method is simply to heat the coconut.
My current method:
- Heat shredded coconut and water (1:4 ratio). No need to boil.
- Let the mixture cool. I usually forget about it and come back a few hours later
- Blend and strain
Although someone had pointed out to me that tricalcium phosphate is used in commercial brands, today I would tell them this is a bad idea.
I have now tasted about every brand available to me and they all taste pretty awful. The worst in terms of taste have tricalcium phosphate.
Homemade is truly the best. Just use a bit of heat to mellow out the taste.
I have experimented with baking soda. This works rather well, however it does leave a taste/sensation of its own. Although I didn't put much I will try to use less the next time. Nonetheless, I am submitting this as an answer. I will try to get my hands on tricalcium phosphate -- if I can -- and report back.
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How do you neutralize coconut milk flavor?
You can neutralize the coconut flavor using a very small amount of baking soda. It works as a base to neutralize the lauric acid in the coconut, which is the "soapy" flavor mentioned in the first link below.Why does my fresh coconut milk taste sour?
Yes, while coconut milk lasts longer than dairy, it will eventually sour, and if it passes the sniff test, it's probably safe to use. Once you've opened your coconut milk, you have about a week to 10 days to use it without a care in the world.How do you mask the flavor of coconut milk?
Why does coconut milk have a weird aftertaste?
If you start to notice a metallic flavor, you likely left your coconut milk in the can when you stored it in the refrigerator. Never store any canned food items in the refrigerator in their original packaging. The metals from the can start to seep into the food, making it taste bad and making it unsafe to eat.Demo: How to use coconut milk
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Answer 2
In Indonesia (and I assume neighbouring countries too) they simply adjust coconut milk (they call it santen) to the level of coconuttiness they want.
So: Soak coconut shavings/scrapings in hot water and squeeze and filter it through a muslin (santen asli/murni). You want less coconutty? Soak the previously soaked & squeezed coconut shavings/scrapings again in the same amount of hot water (santen cair). Repeat until satisfied. There's at least two levels down from "santen cair" that I know of: "santen kedua", and "santen ketiga", the last one would we soaked-squeezed-resoaked-squeezed-resoaked-squeezed-resoaked-squeezed coconut milk. The water to coconut meat ratio they use is about a liter per kilogram of scrapings, roughly a cup of water per 250 grams.
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