I've started using coconut-based products a TON this year. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, only in a treat once in awhile, but as it turns out, it's used in a zillion derivatives, some of which actually aren't super-coconuty and actually make really great dishes.
1. Coconut aminos: Basically soy-free soy sauce.
2. Coconut milk: Drinkable. Don't really care for it.
3. Full-fat coconut milk: Comes in a can. Great for making
homemade ice cream. The can separates into cream & water at lower temps, so you can also scoop out the cream & use it as a frosting with a little sugar (like as a pie topping, like Cool Whip).
4. Coconut oil: This solidifies at room temp, so you have to melt it down to cook with it. High in medium-chain triglycerides. Probably one of the best oils to cook with as well. Very useful for making homemade candy bars (it solidifies chocolate like a Snickers bar) & homemade chocolate Magic Shell for ice cream (hardens when you pour it on the cold ice cream). You can also mix it with cocoa powder & maple syrup as a shell for stuff like chocolate-covered bananas. Sometimes I'll slice a banana down the middle, fill it with peanut or almond butter, then coat it in that chocolate mix...it hardens into a nice shell & makes a nice, healthier dessert.
5. Coconut flour: Surprisingly awesome. It takes very little flour to make a dish. I make
cupcakes with it pretty much weekly. I also mix it 1:1 with potato flour as a batter for homemade chicken tenders (best I've ever had!).
6. Coconut sugar: Disgusting. Have not delved too deeply into this. Supposedly it bakes well, so I'll have to try that.
7. Coconut wraps: These are awesome; they are made from blending & drying coconut water & coconut meat. You can make them at home with a dehydrator or buy them.
Paleo Wraps are the best brand imo.
8. Coconut water: This is advertised as kind of a natural Gatorade (high in potassium too), but the flavors are hit or miss. I can only stand the kind in glass bottles, or drinking it directly out of a coconut (which is amazing, especially if you have a chilled young Thai coconut).
9. Coconut ice cream: A million times better than soy & rice ice cream. Turtle Mountain So Delicious & Amy's makes great coconut ice cream, very creamy & tasty.
10. Coconut butter: Sort of like peanut butter. It's not bad, I'm just not super crazy about it. My
strawberry truffles had a nice texture with it, however. I need to cook with this more. iirc coconut manna = coconut butter.
11. Coconut nectar: This is kind of like coconut molasses, but is advertised as honey or sugar. I've only purchased one bottle, but it was disgusting. I need to find some other recipes for using it.
12. Shredded coconut: Mostly just use this in desserts.
13. Coconut flakes: Like big shredded coconut, just not stringy. Haven't found much use for this beyond making coconut butter or coconut cream. Since I'm not a huge fan of the butter & prefer the cream from the can, I don't really use this.
Wow, I had no idea how much coconut stuff I've used, haha. There is other stuff too...coconut syrup, coconut vinegar, etc. Supposedly humans can live on nothing but coconuts & Vitamin C (like grapefruit, to prevent from getting scurvy). It's a pretty interesting product...growing up, I never touched it beyond eating a Mounds bar once a year & remembering that I didn't really like shredded coconut
😀
