Кокосовое молоко: состав, виды и применение.

Liquid extracted from coconuts

Coconut milk is an opaque, milky white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingredient used in Southeast Asia, Oceania, South Asia, and East Africa. It is also used for cooking in the Caribbean, tropical Latin America, and West Africa, where coconuts were introduced during the colonial era. Coconut milk is differentiated into subtypes based on fat content. They can be generalized into coconut cream (or thick coconut milk) with the highest amount of fat; coconut milk (or thin coconut milk) with a maximum of around 20% fat; and coconut skim milk with negligible amounts of fat. This terminology is not always followed in commercial coconut milk sold in Western countries. Coconut milk can also be used to produce milk substitutes (differentiated as "coconut milk beverages"). These products are not the same as regular coconut milk products which are meant for cooking, not drinking.

In a 100 milliliter (ml) portion, coconut milk contains 230 kilocalories and is 68% water, 24% total fat, 6% carbohydrates, and 2% protein (see table). The fat composition includes 21 grams of saturated fat, half of which is lauric acid. Coconut milk is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of manganese (44% DV per 100 g) and an adequate source (10–19% DV per 100 g) of phosphorus, iron, and magnesium, with no other nutrients in significant content (see table).

Coconut milk is a relatively stable oil in water emulsion with proteins that act as emulsifiers and thickening agents. It is opaque and milky white in color and ranges in consistency from watery to creamy. Coconut cream should also not be confused with creamed coconut, which is a semi solid paste made from finely ground coconut pulp, and cream of coconut, which is a processed product made from heavily sweetened coconut cream.

Coconut milk is traditionally made by grating the white inner flesh of mature coconuts and mixing the shredded coconut pulp with a small amount of hot water in order to suspend the fat present in the grated pulp. Gravity separation can also be used to derive a top layer of coconut cream and a bottom layer of coconut skim milk. This is achieved by simply allowing the extracted liquid to stand for an hour. Traditionally prepared coconut milk is utilized immediately after being freshly extracted because it spoils easily when exposed to air. It becomes rancid after a few hours at room temperatures due to lipid oxidation and lipolysis. Rancid coconut milk gives off a strong unpleasant smell and has a distinctive soapy taste.

Coconut graters (also called "coconut scrapers"), a necessary tool for traditionally extracting coconut milk, were part of the material culture of the Austronesian peoples. From Island Southeast Asia, it was carried along with the sea voyages of the Austronesian expansion both for colonization and trade, reaching as far as Polynesia in the east, and Madagascar and the Comoros in the west in prehistoric times. The technology also spread to non Austronesian cultures in coastal East Africa by proximity. Manual coconut graters remain a standard kitchen equipment in households in the tropical Asia Pacific and Eastern Africa, underscoring the importance of coconut milk and coconut oil extraction in the Indo Pacific. More modern mechanical coconut graters dating back to the mid 1800s consist of serrated blades with a hand crank. This version is believed to be a British invention.

Commercially processed coconut milk products use largely the same processes to extract coconut milk from pulp, though they use more mechanical equipment like deshelling machines, grinders and pulverizers, motorized coconut shredders, and coconut milk extractors. Manufacturers of canned coconut milk typically combine diluted and comminuted milk with the addition of water as a filler. Depending on the brand and age of the milk itself, a thicker, more paste like consistency floats to the top of the can (a gravity separation, similar to traditional methods), and is sometimes separated and used in recipes that require coconut cream rather than coconut milk. Some brands sold in Western countries undergo homogenization and contain additional thickening agents and emulsifiers to prevent the milk from separating inside the can. It can also be used as a base in the production of coconut milk beverages used as milk substitutes, as it does not contain the high levels of fat characteristic of regular coconut milk while still being a good source of soluble proteins.

Processed coconut milk can be used as a substitute for milk beverages, usually marketed as "coconut milk beverage". They are sometimes confusingly also simply labeled as "coconut milk", though they are not the same product as coconut milk used for cooking (which is not meant for drinking). Milk substitutes from coconut are basically coconut milk diluted with water or coconut skim milk with additives. They contain less fat and fewer calories than milk, but also less protein. They contain high amounts of potassium and are good sources of fiber and iron. They are also commonly fortified with vitamin D and calcium.

Coconut milk can be used to enrich the fat content of soy milk, improving its texture and taste to be closer to that of real milk. Coconut cream can also be added to soy milk in the production of tofu to enrich its caloric density without affecting its palatability.

Cream of coconut is a thick, heavily sweetened, processed coconut milk product resembling condensed milk. It is originally produced by the Puerto Rican company Coco López and is used most notably in piña coladas in the United States. It can also be used for other cocktail drinks and various desserts. It should not be confused with or used as a substitute for coconut cream.

In the Philippines, coconut milk can also be further processed into coconut caramel and coconut curds, both known as latík. The coconut caramel latík made from a reduction of muscovado sugar and coconut milk has been developed into a commercial product marketed as coconut syrup (not to be confused with coconut sugar derived from coconut sap). A similar product found throughout Southeast Asia is coconut jam. It is known as matamís sa báo in the Philippines and uses only coconut milk and sugar. However, the coconut jam versions from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (kaya); Thailand (sangkhaya); Cambodia (sankiah); and Vietnam (banh gan), add eggs in addition to sugar. The latter versions are sometimes anglicized as "coconut custard" to distinguish them from the version without egg. Coconut jam and coconut custard have a thicker, jam like consistency and are used as ingredients or fillings in various traditional desserts.

Coconut milk can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. In many tropical and Asian cuisines, it is a traditional ingredient in curries and other dishes, including desserts.

In Indonesia, coconut milk is used in various recipes ranging from savoury dishes – such as rendang, soto, gulai, mie celor, sayur lodeh, gudeg, sambal goreng krechek, and opor ayam – to sweet desserts, such as serabi, es cendol and es doger. Soto is ubiquitous in Indonesia and considered one of Indonesia's national dishes. It is also used in coconut rice, a widespread Southeast Asian dish of rice cooked in coconut milk, including the nasi lemak of Malaysia and the nasi uduk of Indonesia. In Malaysia, coconut milk is one of the essential ingredients in a lot of the dishes, this includes a few of the popular dishes in the region, such as the ubiquitous nasi lemak and nasi dagang, rendang'''', laksa, gulai and Tamil and Mamak style curry, it is also used in dessert making such as Kuih Lapis, kaya and dodol. In the Philippines, diverse dishes cooked in coconut milk are called ginataán. They can range from savoury dishes to desserts. Coconut milk is widely used to make traditional Filipino kakanín (the generic term for rice pastries), including bibingka and biko, among others. In Thailand, coconut milk is used in dishes such as tom kha kai, khao tom mat, mango sticky rice, and tom yum.

In Brazil, coconut milk is mostly used in northeastern cuisine, generally with seafood stews and desserts. In Venezuela, pulp dishes are prepared with coconut milk and shredded fish in a dish called mojito en coco. In Colombia and Panama, the grated flesh of coconut and coconut milk are used to make sweet titoté, a key ingredient in making arroz com coco (coconut rice). Coconut milk is used to make traditional Venezuelan dishes, such as majarete (a typical Venezuelan dessert), and arroz con coco (the Venezuelan version of coconut rice).

In Southeast Asia, coconut milk is used to make many traditional drinks. Cendol is a popular iced drink from this region containing chilled coconut milk and green jellies made of rice flour. Coconut milk is also used in hot drinks such as bandrek and bajigur, two popular drinks from Indonesia. Sweetened coconut milk, and coconut milk diluted with water are two popular coconut beverages in southern China and Taiwan. The jelly like pulp from the inside of the coconut is often added to coconut water to make a tropical drink. In Brazil, for example, coconut milk is mixed with sugar and cachaça to make a cocktail called [[Cocktails with cachaça#Batida (Shaken). Puerto Rico is also popular for tropical drinks containing coconut, such as piña colada and coquito, which typically contain coconut milk or coconut cream.

In 1943, it was discovered that coconut milk could actively encourage plant growth. Although there are many factors that attribute coconut milk to plant growth, the main cause is the existence of a cytokinin known as zeatin found in coconut milk. While the zeatin in coconut milk speeds up plant growth in general, it does not speed up growth in certain plants such as radishes. However, when 10% coconut milk is added to the substrate on which wheat is grown, substantial improvements have been noted.

Coconuts are widely produced in tropical climates and exported globally as canned products, most frequently to North America and Europe.