Rich, thick, sweet, coconut milk sauce adds the razzle-dazzle to any Vietnamese dessert! This coconut milk sauce is meant to be eaten as a sauce, but it's so good you might just eat it as a whole dessert.
Vietnamese desserts were my first introduction to the world of sweets. When I was in Vietnam, after dinner the night markets would open up and my cousins and aunts would go for chè. Chè is a general term to describe Vietnamese desserts. Vietnamese desserts consist of sweet puddings and drinks. The street vendors were always stocked with various chè options and all the toppings that came with them. If you were selling desserts, it is customary to ask if you want "nước cốt dừa khong?". It means do you want coconut milk sauce too? It's the cherry on top, so to speak, but coconut milk sauce is better than a cherry because it's rich, creamy, and coconut!
In America, when I go to the chè shops, it is still customary for the shops to have cốt dừa. The tradition lives on! I am a fan of cốt dừa and my kids love it!
What is Coconut Milk Sauce?
Coconut milk sauce is known as nước cốt dừa in Vietnamese. This refers to coconut milk in general and the coconut milk sauce. In Vietnamese cuisine, coconut milk sauce is doused over che, Vietnamese desserts. It is also eaten with xôi (pronounced "soy"), sticky rice, and different pastries, like bánh bò (Vietnamese honeycomb cake).
The exact origin of coconut milk sauce is unknown and hard to pinpoint. Coconut milk sauce came from several tropical countries and it's use has spread globally. Before there was canned coconut milk, mature coconuts were grated, mixed with water, and milked by hand.
Coconut milk has many uses in Vietnamese cuisine from savory to sweets. With the abundance of coconuts in Vietnam, coconut milk sauce has become popular throughout Vietnam.
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❤️Why You'll love this recipe
- Coconut milk sauce is a topping that goes well with almost all Vietnamese chè. If you're planning to eat che, this will elevate the flavors.
- This recipe does not require any advanced skills. Anyone can make this.
- If you want a thicker, more creamy sauce, or thinner sauce, you can still use this recipe. Just adjust the water content and add starch accordingly.
🥄Equipment and tools
- Can opener
- Saucepan
- Wooden spoon/spatula
🛒Recipe Ingredients
These are the ingredients you'll need to whip up the coconut milk sauce.
- Coconut milk - Canned coconut milk is super convenient to have around. I love a fresh milked coconut but it's so much easier to open a can. Now you can milk a fresh coconut and use the milk in this recipe, but with the increases in prices of mature coconuts and the effort it takes to milk the coconut, I would recommend buying canned coconut milk for the sake of time. You have the option of buying coconut milk and coconut cream. Coconut cream will be more rich and creamy, and not all grocery stores carry this. You can substitute coconut cream for freshly milked coconut - the choice is yours. Any canned coconut brand will do. From my experience, the brands that are made in Thailand seem to have a richer more consistent texture, but I generally tend to get whatever is on sale.
- Cornstarch - Cornstarch is used to thicken up the coconut milk. When you heat up your coconut milk and it's at a consistency you like, then you do not need to use cornstarch or any thickener. Substitutes for cornstarch are tapioca starch, glutinous rice starch, or potato starch.
- Sugar - Granulated white sugar is used to amplify the coconut flavoring. It is the dazzle to the razzle. Without it, the sauce won't sing and we want to hear its voice. White sugar can be substituted with brown sugar.
- Salt - This is not absolutely necessary. If you're cutting back on salt in your diet, then skip this part. Adding a little salt goes a long way. This sounds so wrong adding salt to sweets...what? As counterintuitive as it may sound, just trust me! Salt will balance out the sweetness and bring out the coconut flavors. Just a pinch will do the trick. Don't add more than that.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
↔Substitutions & Variations
- Instead of canned coconut milk, you can milk your own coconut milk for a fresher taste.
👩🏫 How to Make Coconut Milk Sauce
Step 1: Open a can of coconut milk and add to a saucepan. Turn on the stove to medium-high and stir the coconut milk with a spoon. The coconut milk will begin to thicken.
Step 2: As the coconut milk boils, add sugar and salt while continuing to stir with a wooden spoon. Add water to cornstarch on the side, mix it well, and add to the coconut milk.
Step 3: After adding the cornstarch mixture, the coconut milk sauce will thicken up more. The hotter the milk sauce, the thicker it'll become. Keep stirring for 1 -2 more minutes and then, take off the heat.
Step 4: Let it cool, then taste it. Season it to your taste preference, if needed. Lastly, enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Continue mixing the coconut milk to get a smooth consistency.
- The hotter the coconut milk is the quicker it will thicken and the starch will clump. Adjust your temperature as you add the cornstarch-water slurry.
🙋♀️Recipes FAQ
One way to thicken up coconut milk is by adding cornstarch. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Heat up the coconut milk in a saucepan and add the cornstarch-water mixture. As the coconut milk heats up, stir in the cornstarch. The coconut milk will start to thicken in the sauce pan, so be sure to stir the clumps out. Take it off the heat when it reaches the desired consistency. If you want it thicker, add more cornstarch and water mixture.
❄️Storage and reheating instructions
- Refrigerator - store covered in refrigerator for 5 days
- Reheating instructions - microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Did you try this recipe?
Leave a ⭐️ review below and tag @teerangathome on Instagram!
📖Recipe
Insanely Easy Coconut Milk Sauce
Equipment
- 1 can opener
- 1 saucepan
- 1 wooden spoon or splatula
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 12 ounce can coconut milk*
Instructions
- Open a can of coconut and add the entire can to a saucepan.
- Turn on the heat to medium-high and stir the coconut milk as it heats up with a spoon. Depending on the canned coconut brand, the coconut milk may be separated into 2 parts: a creamy fatty top and a watery bottom. Combine both into the sauce pan and heat it up and mix it together.
- Add sugar, salt and continue stirring.
- In a separate bowl, mix together water with the cornstarch and then add the slurry to the heated coconut milk mixture.
- Keep stirring with a spoon. As the milk heats up it will thicken. Stir out the clumps. Take off the heat when it's at your desired consistency. Let it cool and enjoy with your favorite desserts.
Notes
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- Refrigerator - store covered in refrigerator for 5 days
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- Reheating instructions - microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Diane Bell
The coconut sauce does not make sense. No where in the recipe does it indicate add water. But in the instructions it tells you to add water and mix with another ingredient. This would be a disaster to make with all those ingredients and have to throw it away. Do you not have proof readers?
I am so very disappointed!
Trang Vo
Hi Diane, some minor edits were made, that hopefully make it clearer, that you mix cornstarch and water on the side in a separate bowl before adding to the coconut milk. Thanks for dropping by!
Randy
Aloha! I must've missed it, but how much water are we adding to the cornstarch, 1 tablespoon? 1/4 cup?
Trang Vo
Hi Randy! So glad you dropped by! Thanks for catching that! My recipe card is now updated!☺️🥄 To thicken the coconut milk, use 2 tablespoons of water to 1 tablespoon of cornstarch!
Mix the cornstarch and water until the clumps are out and it is a slurry. It takes about 5-10 secs, then add it to the coconut mixture!
Dawn
Hi! Thank you for posting this recipe! Would this be good over deep fried shrimp?
Trang Vo
Hi Dawn! This recipe is for a sweet dessert sauce. You can use it over deep fried shrimp but adjust the sugar to your liking. I recommend dipping your deep fried shrimp in first and if you like the taste then cover all your deep fried shrimp in the sauce. Also, this thick sauce can make your dep fried shrimp soggy if it isn't eatten the same day. Let me know if you have any more questions! Thanks for stopping by!