food coconut milk.

[scotchnaga85]

Is it just me but does coconut milk completely mask the heat effect of chillies when cooking.
 
I will normally use a ripe naga when cooking a curry with coconut milk and the resulting curry is moderately hot yet retains the flavour of the naga. Tonight's curry was a red thai with chicken.
 
Without the coconut milk this curry would have probably be pushing my tolerance limits.

 

[MGOLD86]

I haven't tried it, but it definitely sounds pretty interesting. 

 

[scotchnaga85]

I haven't tried it, but it definitely sounds pretty interesting. 

 
I've been experimenting a lot lately with southeast Asian curry paste's, they're nice and I would advice to try
 
A Thai friend told me that they don't add water to the paste when cooking chicken instead they let it simmer in coconut milk, so I've been doing this to all curry pastes regardless of country of origin

 

[PepperDaddler]

Some people may not agree but I love this stuff, even when just used as a base with some peppers and other ingredients thrown in:
 

 

[geeme]

Cooking will tend to reduce the heat on its own, and anything with sugar in it (either naturally, like coconut milk, or added) also reduces it.

 

[swellcat]

 
. . . it definitely sounds pretty interesting.

 
 
Indeed.  A heat-attenuator that allows us to taste pods beyond our usual tolerance could be very useful.
 
Curry components seem to vary a bit, but some of them, certainly, are easy to grow.  Fenugreek sprouts readily in about three days . . . from the dried spice (seeds) in my case.  Leaves are edible, too.
 
Turmeric will grow from rhizomes—much like ginger—that may be found in, especially, in Asian and Hispanic-oriented markets.  I'm eating turmeric daily for its reputed anti-inflammatory and blood-thinning properties, so exploring curries seems like a natural step.
 
A friend (ethnic Indian) has promised some of his homemade cabrito curry.  I'll hook him up with some hot pods and seeds; he already has his three-year old eating chiles as hot as I can stand! 
 
 
 
 

 

[Tigeris]

Indeed.  A heat-attenuator that allows us to taste pods beyond our usual tolerance could be very useful.

 
I agree.  Especially when people are just starting to get into chilies like me.

 

[PepperDaddler]

Read this:
 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsazepine

 

[Tigeris]

Read this:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsazepine

 
So you're suggesting that there may be an natural analog to Capsazepine in coconut milk rather than the sugar being responsible for this effect?

 

[PepperDaddler]

No.
 
All I was suggesting is that it would be interesting to turn off our heat receptors to experience solely flavor.

 

[Nigel]

As far as I can tell, Capsazepine has not been tested very rigorously for toxicity in animals. The 50% lethal dose for rats is about 4.5mg/kg body weight. However, it does seem to act as an antagonist to capsaicin in vivo.
 
I`m not sure if coconut milk masks heat levels. As Geeme said, just the cooking of chills alters their heat significantly, plus the added sugar in coconut milk may also play a role to damping down the heat. Coconut milk also has a reasonable fat content, and again that may make the capsaicin less available to your taste. 

 

[stickman]

I made up a batch of hot sauce with about 3 pounds of red Habaneros about a month ago... It tasted alright when I was done, but was still a bit harsh. Adding a can of coconut milk really "Ironed out the rough spots" and made it a great table sauce. I'd give this one a "thumbs up".

 

[texas blues]

Coconut milk to tone down sheeit?
 
That's against the law far as I know.

 

[Tigeris]

No.
 
All I was suggesting is that it would be interesting to turn off our heat receptors to experience solely flavor.

 
Whoops, that interpretation makes way more sense.  It'd be really interesting to experience this!  I love all this discussion!