Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is a rich, opaque liquid made by blending and pressing grated mature coconut flesh with water. It has a creamy body and lush coconut aroma; it may separate into cream and watery layers that recombine when stirred or heated. Cooks use it to enrich curries, soups, stews, and desserts, and it is sold mostly in canned regular or light forms.\n\nOriginating across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, coconut milk is central to Thai, Indonesian, Filipino, Sri Lankan, and coastal Indian cuisines and later spread through the Caribbean. Commercial production presses coconut kernel with water, then standardizes fat and heat-processes the liquid for canning or aseptic packaging.