# Irish/British Cooking Dopers: What is a "block of creamed coconut"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-british-cooking-dopers-what-is-a-block-of-creamed-coconut/408311 "2007-06-17T00:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-british-cooking-dopers-what-is-a-block-of-creamed-coconut/408311/1 "2007-06-17T00:43:13Z")
I’m making a recipe from an Irish cookbook that calls for a “block of creamed coconut”. Can anyone enighten me on what that is? I’ve just made do with some shredded coconut. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-british-cooking-dopers-what-is-a-block-of-creamed-coconut/408311/2 "2007-06-17T01:20:29Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] I’m making a recipe from an Irish cookbook that calls for a “block of creamed coconut”. Can anyone enighten me on what that is? I’ve just made do with some shredded coconut. Thanks. [/QUOTE] From the Wik: > **[Coconut milk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_cream)** > > Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingredient used in Southeast Asia, Oceania, South Asia, and East Africa. It is also used for cooking in the Caribbean, Central America, northern parts of South America and West Africa, where coconuts were introduced during the colonial era. Coconut milk is differenti... > [@](#): > > Creamed coconut is not the same as coconut cream. **Creamed coconut is a very concentrated coconut extract without the water**. Like coconut oil, it is hard at a low room temperature. It is basically coconut cream concentrate, and can be made into coconut cream by mixing it with water, or into coconut milk by mixing it with a larger amount of water. **It is typically sold as a 200ml block in a plastic bag inside a small box**. In the UK it is widely and cheaply available (from £0.30 to £1.00 per 200ml block) in Asian convenience stores and in the Asian sections of large supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irish-british-cooking-dopers-what-is-a-block-of-creamed-coconut/408311/3 "2007-06-17T02:57:50Z")
I’m not sure about Regina, but I’ve bought creamed coconut for about 99 cents at both Loblaws and No Frills here in Toronto…