Coconut milk 1 vs 2

In the past, I had made versions of curries sometimes wondered why the milk was curdling. Well, my friends, you might also be enlightened after knowing the difference between coconut milk 1 and 2! They come from the same coconut, but processed and used differently 😊 The key difference is that 1 is denser and creamier than 2. Whilst dense and creamy = flavor, coconut milk 1 thickens fast with cooking and therefore can be difficult to manage for dishes requiring long cooking time (>30 mins). Fret not, the more diluted but still flavorful coconut milk 2 will save your day. A combination of both works best, with good timing. As such, I like to use coconut milk 2 first and then a dash of coconut milk 1, 10 to 20 mins before the end of cooking.

First, the right type of coconut. Not the king coconut or thai coconut you’re drinking right now. The coconut you want is hairy/husky on the outside with a thick, hard flesh on the inside. Breaking this coconut requires abit of physics combined with a surmountable amount of experience (and anger channeling). If you get it right, all it takes is one slam! of your butcher’s knife, and there you have it, a broken coconut. Keep the husk for fire, if you have an open kitchen – otherwise, use as a shell for plants or compost. In Sri Lanka, they use a mechanical coconut grater which – after 3 attempts on 3 different occasions – was taken away from me as “I was not doing it right”. Thankfully, times have evolved and you can go to your wet market and get it freshly grated from a machine (if early enough!). Coconut milk goes “off” within a day from my experience so either a) only buy it on the day you are cooking and store in the fridge or b) freeze the remainder for when the time comes.