When you see coconuts, you think of tropical islands, sandy beaches and refreshing coconut water straight from its shell. However, for Asians, coconuts are more than just coconut water. In fact, it has become such a staple in our lives that we practically use it for everything; from decorations, to making cleaning appliances to using its flesh and water in our cooking as well.
Heavenly Coconut Milk Desserts
Let me tell you one fact about coconuts. When you cook with coconuts, your food tastes better. Trust me, I am Asian and I know my stuff, especially about cooking with coconuts. While adding coconut milk to savoury food like curry makes the dish so much better, adding it to dessert is just heavenly.
Coconut desserts are just recently gaining popularity all over the world. Meanwhile, we have been enjoying coconut in our desserts for ages. I personally feel that we Asians have made significant contributions to the joy of desserts by making some of the most delectable coconut milk desserts ever. Everyone should try these type of desserts at least once in their life.
Coconut-y Benefits
Besides being delicious, coconut milk helps to lower cholesterol levels, improve blood pressure and prevent heart attacks. Please don’t go drinking tubs of this stuff though. It is high in calories too. As with most things, moderation is key.
If you ask me, the best way to enjoy these benefits is just by trying out one of these coconut milk desserts.
1. Bubur Pulut Hitam
Bubur Pulut Hitam or Black Glutinous Rice Porridge is the first of the five beloved coconut milk desserts we have available here in Malaysia. Despite it being labeled as black, its colour is actually a deep purple. It has the consistency of thick English porridge but tastes even better!
Bubur Pulut Hitam is usually served warm at teatime or after dinner in most Malay and Chinese households. However, that doesn’t stop us from enjoying it at anytime of the day especially when we have this recipe handy.
2. Durian Sticky Rice
You may know its slightly more popular Thai cousin, the mango sticky rice dish, but our Malaysian variant is no less delicious. This coconut milk dessert is a simple fare consisting of three ingredients; sweet durian flesh, fluffy glutinous rice and copious amount of salty-sweet coconut milk.
Malaysians usually enjoy it during the durian season. Be warned as it is a very rich and creamy coconut milk dessert. Waistlines will suffer but then again, occasionally indulging is good for the soul!
3. Sago Gula Melaka
This third dessert listed is slightly more lighter than the previous two coconut milk desserts. A simple fare made up of sago, coconut milk and gula Melaka syrup, it has such a fresh flavour that you can actually wolf down two or more of this. However, the ratio of each ingredient in this dessert must be at the perfect. If not, it can go from delicious to mediocre.
If you haven’t try this coconut milk dessert yet, don’t be sad. Send your comments below and make your demands known to me so I can share the best sago gula melaka recipe for you to try!
4. Cendol
Any coconut milk desserts list would be incomplete without cendol. If you’ve been to Malaysia, I don’t this particular dessert needs an introduction. It is probably the most popular of all coconut milk desserts.
So, among all the coconut milk desserts, this is the only dessert that is served cold. Making cendol is not rocket science, you need shaved ice, of course, some pandan rice flour jelly, coconut milk, clumps of glutinous rice, red beans and gula Melaka. Once you know where to get the ingredients, you can just make it in the comforts of your home and enjoy it during hot summer days. So good!
5. Bubur Cha Cha
Bubur Cha Cha or Nyonya Coconut Milk dessert is one of the loveliest and most colourful of coconut milk desserts that we Malaysians have to offer.
It is commonly made with cut sweet potatoes, pearled sago and taro, drenched in sweet coconut milk and can be served either hot or cold, depending your mood. It is one of the more elusive of coconut milk desserts since you don’t usually find it being sold commercially.
Give Me These Coconut Milk Dessert Recipes!
This is definitely not a finite list of coconut milk dessert recipes. If you have recipes or other coconut milk desserts, don’t be shy from sharing it with me. Just send me a DM or a message via Butterkicap’s Instagram and Facebook pages. Have fun trying out coconut dessert recipes whenever you have the chance. It will definitely blow your mind!
