Dehydrated Coconut Milk Powder

1/22/16 edit: GREAT NEWS! Z Natural Foods has made both their organic and conventional coconut milk powder AIP-compliant by moving to using tapioca maltodextrin instead of corn-based maltodextrin. WIN for the paleo world! They’ve also put it back on Amazon, so I have my links leading there now. I’ve changed this post to remove the part about the former non-AIP version, as well as replaced the old photo of the new one with improved labeling.

I love coconut.

I used to hate it; the only coconut I had as a child was in the frosting for German Chocolate cake. But in my 30’s I started eating Thai food… and found the goodness of Coconut Red Curry! In fact, in the years before my health crash, I returned to restaurants countless times for my favorite Thai red curry – even though I knew I’d get instant bloat that made me look (and feel) about 4 months pregnant. I’m smarter now.

Before I started AIP, I assumed I was allergic to coconut, due to my reactions to coconut curry. But I planned to test coconut anyhow, since everyone in the AIP/Paleo world was hailing the benefits of coconut oil. Once my symptoms abated and I started food reintroductions, I tested plain shredded coconut first. NO reaction. Hallelujah! Then coconut oil. All good! Long story short, it turns out I had been reacting to the soy in the curry dish, and the guar gum that is found in most brands of canned coconut milk (guar gum is a common reactive food).

a hot cup of frothy coconut milk chai after a day on the trail… oh my!

Thus my love affair with coconut began. In my exploration of recipes for the backcountry, I keep coming back to coconut; the shreds and oil taste great and add fiber and fat to bars and snacks, and the milk powder is a godsend for drinking and recipes.

When I started looking for coconut milk powder, the sources I found contained some assortment of maltodextrin (frequently sourced from corn), casein (a milk product known to be highly reactive for many people) and other nasty stabilizers and fillers I won’t put in my body. I kept searching.

Finally I found a company – Z Natural foods – that carries a coconut milk powder that is simply dried coconut milk with tapioca maltodextrin made from cassava (also called yuca and manioc) root! Tapioca is considered AIP compliant, though some people report reactions to it; it’s up to you to determine how your body responds to it.

One caution; some folks aren’t very tolerant of cassava/tapioca (leads to digestive issues), so start out easy. The bonus: With dried milk, you can make as much or as little as you want, and not waste a drop letting it go bad in the fridge. If you want to read up on intolerance, check out these articles on Autoimmune Paleo and The Paleo Mom.

When I got my first bag, I ripped it open and tasted some with a spoon… good. Then I heated some water and made warm coconut milk… so good. Some folks prefer it cold, but I’m a fan of piping hot. Then I started trying it in dishes, and voila, it was my newest favorite trail food ingredient! It really opened up my scope of options. If you are reactive to coconut and have bothered to read this far, my heart goes out to you.

new packaging with nutrition and ingredient information

click for larger image

To Clump Or Not To Clump

Although the product contains the tapioca maltodextrin to help prevent caking, it typically arrives a bit caked. You can push or lightly bang the bag against the edge of the kitchen counter – make sure it’s sealed well – to break it up, or, just throw the contents of the bag (2 cups at a time) in a blender or food processor, and powder it up:

dried coconut milk before pulverizing

dried coconut milk after pulverizing

Here are some of my recipes that use dried coconut milk powder: Coconut Milk Chai (coming soon!); the base for Smoked Salmon Chowder; Sweet Potato Mashers, and a variety of other stir-fry and curry type dishes (in development!). What would you use it for? Feel free to share ideas in the comments section below!