Coconut

About

Fresh coconut has a mild, milky, fruity flavor that becomes bolder, creamier and nuttier when toasted or baked, and like sweet almond it combines well with many other ingredients. Coconut milk, typically made from grated flesh and water, varies significantly between brands, especially in sugar content; coconut cream, powder, desiccated or flaked coconut, flour, extract and coconut-flavored rum (Malibu) are also widely available.

Pairs well with coconut

• CiLemonCoconut pairs well with lemongrass, whose citral content gives a bright citrus-floral lift that cuts through coconut's richness, even…
• SuEggKaya, a coconut jam or curd made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar, is a common breakfast spread across Southeast Asia.
• WoAlmondSubstituting almond extract for about half the vanilla extract in coconut cakes, cookies, or puddings gives the same flavor-rounding…
• SpCinnamonA popular Cuban pairing found in the rice pudding arroz con coco and the baked custard coco quemado, made by infusing cream and water with…
• RoChocolateFine chocolates sometimes carry tobacco- and smoke-like notes, as in Pralus's Tanzanie (tobacco, treacle, molasses, raisin) or Vanuatu…
• MeBeefBeef penang and rendang are both slow-cooked, coconut-based Southeast Asian stews sharing a base of shallot, garlic, ginger or galangal,…
• MaShellfishCoconut-coated deep-fried shrimp is a casual bar snack.
• MePorkThe Vietnamese dish thit heo kho tieu is pork slow-cooked in coconut water and fish sauce until caramelized, with boiled eggs added near…
• GrAniseKecap manis, the syrupy Indonesian sweet soy sauce, is made from fermented soybeans with coconut sugar, fennel and star anise added,…
• FfVanillaThe gorse shrub, despite its thorny appearance, gives off a fragrance strongly reminiscent of coconut and vanilla custard, close enough to…
• MeChickenIn Balinese cooking, shredded barbecued chicken is pounded with grated coconut so the coconut's oils mix into the meat, then combined with…
• GrChiliCoconut milk softens the sharper edges of Thai ingredients, mellowing lime's tartness, fish sauce's pungency and chili's heat, since…
• CiLimeLime's sharpness cuts through coconut's heavy sweetness, much as lime frosting balances a coconut cake.
• WoCarrotA dish by chef Wylie Dufresne recreates a fried egg using carrot and maple for the 'yolk' and coconut and cardamom for the 'white'.
• SpPeppercornFresh green peppercorns, common in Thai dishes, have their sharp, unripe flavor softened by coconut milk, much as cream tempers pepper in…
• SuCornIn popcorn, kernel shape (unilateral, bilateral or multilateral, depending on how many directions it expands in when popped) affects…
• MuMustardCoconut's mellow sweetness balances mustard's sharpness, a pairing common in Bengali cuisine, particularly in fish sauces.
• CrRaisinRaisins' brown-sugar sweetness works well folded into creamy coconut.
• CrBananaKluay buat chii, a Thai dessert whose name translates as 'bananas ordaining as nuns' (a reference to the white robes worn by Thai Buddhist…
• CrDateShredded coconut cakes studded with date pieces are a classic sweet pairing.
• FrPineappleThe piña colada draws on a real flavor affinity: the flesh of a ripe pineapple carries genuine notes of rum and coconut.
• FrPlumCoconut lends plum a creamy, peach-like quality via the same lactones responsible for peach's more tropical notes, a pairing that benefits…
• EaChickpeaChickpea's nutty flavor blends smoothly with coconut's sweetness, the two often hard to distinguish in combination - used in fudge-like…
• EaLentilCoconut milk and red lentils combine into a sweet, soft porridge, sometimes finished with cardamom-flavored syrup.
• BrAnchovyFish sauce and coconut milk are a foundational pairing in Southeast Asian curries and stews.
• RoPeanutA frequent pairing in Indonesian cooking.
• CrPruneA Brazilian classic: manjar de coco, a coconut blancmange of coconut milk, cream, grated coconut and sugar set with cornstarch, is served…
• GrCilantroCoconut and cilantro complement each other well, as in a flatbread made from a simple dough rolled thin, filled with cilantro and flaked…
• MaSeaweedAn unlikely-sounding but effective pairing in savory granola: sunflower seeds and unsweetened shredded coconut are mixed with maple syrup,…
• SpAllspiceAllspice was reportedly first brought to Europe as a proposed substitute for cardamom, despite tasting quite different from it.