Thai coconut based milk curry rice noodles, without coconut?
October 16, 2023 1:28 PM Subscribe
Hi all, I want to make this Thai coconut-based milk yellow curry with rice noodles here at 3:04 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0gRO1QvBGI&t=213s
However, I am not too fond of coconut, I do not mind it, but would it be possible to make it with just cream or would the flavor be lost without the coconut? Or is it essential as a Thai dish for it to have coconut? I am not sure if regular cream would be flavorless even if I added jalapeno spice or some spices or heavier curries.
I cook a lot of Thai food. It is true that coconut milk is a fairly integral part of Thai curries (though not all! There are Thai curries that don't use coconut milk at all) and it adds a faint hint of natural sweetness. Dairy is not traditionally used in most Thai cooking, with a primary reason being that most adults from that part of the world cannot digest lactose into adulthood.
However! If you're just cooking for yourself you can do whatever you want. What I would keep in mind in this situation is:
- Coconut milk maxes out at about 20% fat and is usually closer to about 10-15%. I would aim to start with a dairy cream that has a similar fat content and work from there.
- The punchy flavors in a Thai curry come primarily from the curry paste (in which there are typically a large number of herbs and spices) and seasonings (e.g. fish sauce, tamarind) so substituting cream in and of itself shouldn't require you to add a whole bunch of additional flavors. I might add a very scant amount of additional sugar to mimic the natural sweetness of the coconut.
- Adjust your expectations -- dairy cream and coconut milk may be similar texture wise but are still different products with different flavors, so it won't taste exactly the same as a Thai curry you may have had in a restaurant. But it's OK as long as you like the flavor!
Note: I will admit I would be less sanguine about this substitution in Thai desserts, where coconut milk is often one of a few primary flavors and substituting it will have a bigger impact. In a way, substituting in the context of a curry where there are lots of other powerful flavors is less impactful.
posted by andrewesque at 1:47 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
However! If you're just cooking for yourself you can do whatever you want. What I would keep in mind in this situation is:
- Coconut milk maxes out at about 20% fat and is usually closer to about 10-15%. I would aim to start with a dairy cream that has a similar fat content and work from there.
- The punchy flavors in a Thai curry come primarily from the curry paste (in which there are typically a large number of herbs and spices) and seasonings (e.g. fish sauce, tamarind) so substituting cream in and of itself shouldn't require you to add a whole bunch of additional flavors. I might add a very scant amount of additional sugar to mimic the natural sweetness of the coconut.
- Adjust your expectations -- dairy cream and coconut milk may be similar texture wise but are still different products with different flavors, so it won't taste exactly the same as a Thai curry you may have had in a restaurant. But it's OK as long as you like the flavor!
Note: I will admit I would be less sanguine about this substitution in Thai desserts, where coconut milk is often one of a few primary flavors and substituting it will have a bigger impact. In a way, substituting in the context of a curry where there are lots of other powerful flavors is less impactful.
posted by andrewesque at 1:47 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Sure! Heavy cream has more fat then coconut milk (regular cream is about 35% fat content coconut milk is about 20%). “Light cream” is more on point. Or cream thinned out with a little bit of water or stock.
You may want to add a small pinch of sugar to get back some sweetness too.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:49 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
You may want to add a small pinch of sugar to get back some sweetness too.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:49 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Consider subbing almond or soy milk plus a bit of cornstarch rather than regular cream if the recipe normally has you boil the curry past the point you add the coconut milk. Dairy doesn't hold up as well to high heat as alternate milks. Unsweetened almond milk is still slightly sweet in the way that coconut milk is but doesn't have as much body, hence the cornstarch.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:14 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 2:14 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
From a completely different angle, I have been cooking with coconut milk where regular milk is or cream is often used and it's been working great. I suspect the other way around in this case would not be too much of a problem. Subbing almond milk seems like a great idea because you'll get some of the faint sweetness that dairy milk is often missing.
posted by pazazygeek at 3:55 PM on October 16, 2023
posted by pazazygeek at 3:55 PM on October 16, 2023
Personally I think you'd lose a lot of depth of flavor by using cream or half and half. With coconut milk you also don't have to worry about acidic ingredients (I didn't see any recipe in the video? However I just skimmed) curdling the dairy.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:20 PM on October 16, 2023
posted by oneirodynia at 6:20 PM on October 16, 2023
If you must find a substitute for coconut milk, I’d go with Chashew Milk/Cream. It’s just soaked raw cashews and water blended up, click here if you need a recipe.
posted by Champagne Supernova at 8:05 AM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Champagne Supernova at 8:05 AM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
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