Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <coconut>
Title: How do I make coconut milk at home?
Question: I rarely use coconut milk, so it's not something I like to keep around the house. On the rare occasion I do use it, most of it goes to waste because I only need a little bit. How do I make it at home, and can I make a low calorie version?

Answers:
sents: text: Most fair sized Asian markets carry boxes of powdered coconut milk/cream.
text: The shelf life on these products is generally quite good, and allow you to make just the amount (and strength) of coconut milk you want by simply adding water.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/75/Guildencrantz
score: 16
sents: text: I don't know about the "low calorie" part of your question but if you take a container of coconut milk and freeze the left over portion in an ice cube tray, and store the ice cubes in a ziplock in your freezer they should last a good long while allowing you to use them in smaller portions in the future.
text: As for "making your own at home"...
text: first you plant a coconut....
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/6279/Cos Callis
score: 10
sents: text: You can make coconut milk at home by using dessicated coconut powder available at stores.
text: Take the coconut powder and make it fine by wet grinding in the mixer (you will be able to extract more milk this way).
text: Take lukewarm water (helps extract the milk better).
text: Add this water to the powder when running though the mixer.
text: (Not too much or the coconut milk will spill over when grinding).
text: Take a wide-mouthed sieve and filter the wet powder through the sieve into a vessel.
text: You can obtain more milk by running the powder through the mixie again with more water.
text: However, this milk will be watery and not as good as the first run.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7622/Janice
score: 5
sents: text: To make coconut milk, I either use frozen shredded coconut or whole coconut from Indian stores.
text: Take a cup of shredded coconut and add 1/2 cup of lukewarm water (lukewarm water brings out the maximum milk and beautiful white color).
text: Blend it nicely for a minute or two until all the flakes are ground thoroughly.
text: Strain the ground mixture using a thin kitchen cloth colander.
text: We call this extract as "First milk".
text: You can use the residue to make "thin coconut milk" (follow same steps).
text: We call this second extract as "Second milk".
text: I'm pretty sure you cannot extract coconut milk from bakers coconut.
text: In Indian cooking, First milk and Second milk makes difference when you add them in a curry.
text: The order in which they are added also makes difference to a dish.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/14978/CookingJingalala
score: 5
sents: text: Well, if you want to make coconut milk from scratch you would first have to get a dried coconut.
text: This is a coconut that's a dark brown colour on the outside.
text: You will know that it's good if when you shake it you hear liquid slushing around inside.
text: Use a hammer to crack open the nut and drain out the liquid (which you can drink).
text: Take a knife to pry the white flesh from the coconut shell and be careful so as not to cut yourself.
text: Chop these into smaller pieces, put in a blender along with some water.
text: Strain and use the liquid as desired.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7631/Beenybudmom
score: 4
sents: text: Here is a recipe using fresh mature coconut to make coconut milk like it is traditionally made.
text: http://ilovetraditionalfoods.blogspot.ca/2013/02/how-to-make-coconut-milk.html
text: After making coconut milk, don't throw out the pulp because you can make coconut flour out of it. http://ilovetraditionalfoods.blogspot.ca/2013/02/how-to-make-coconut-flour.html
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/15584/Soul
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
You can use powdered coconut milk/cream, dessicated coconut or a dried coconut, which are available at most large Asian markets.
You can make your own coconut milk from dried powder. You can also freeze your leftove milk.