Is Canned Coconut Milk Low Fodmap?

Here is a very popular recipe for coconut rice that I use at the university where I teach, when we hold our once a month dinner for between 200 and 300 international students. Of course everything is popular with students who are always starving and looking for free food!

I never heard of coconut milk until it started showing up everywhere. Coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut shortening, etc. Then it dawned on me that there is no lactose in coconut milk, and unlike fake creamers that contain enough chemicals to launch a rocket, coconut milk is a natural creamer. Now I use it in many dishes that call for cream. Of course I DO NOT exceed the low fodmap amount of 1/4 cup per serving.

Up to 1/4 cup is low fodmap and a serving of this rice would not contain more than that. However, if you are afraid to use canned coconut milk, use almond coconut milk. As much as 1 cup is low fodmap and safe to use.

Have You Made This Lately?

Before the pandemic, I brought this dish to last September’s international student dinner. I thought it might not do well because there were so many other rice dishes on the buffet table, but, once again, the students gobbled it up in the blink of an eye. Proof positive folks that they spread the word to their friends who all lined up to get a taste of this fabulous recipe.

How Complicated Is Coconut Rice?

There is something sublime about the combination of chicken broth, coconut milk and lime juice, for sure. But, the best thing about this recipe is how simple it is to make, and how easy to double or triple it, when cooking for a crowd of students! It stays warm in your crockpot as you transport it to its destination, where you can plug it in and keep on warm as you dish it out.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp. butter or margarine

3/4 cup chopped onion (To be fodmap free, use the green part only of a scallion or green onion)

1 cup coconut milk (full fat or lite)

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (For fodmap free, use broth made without garlic or onion. I use Fody Food’s chicken bouillion powder)

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp honey (for fodmap free use brown sugar or maple syrup)

1 cup Basmati or Jasmine rice

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro or chopped basil if you don’t care for cilantro

1 tsp fresh lime zest

DIRECTIONS:

In a 2 quart saucepan, over medium high heat, melt the butter until foaming. Add the chopped onions (use green part of spring onion or scallion stems for low fodmap)and sauté the onion stems for 3 to 5 minutes or until softish.

Stir into the saucepan the coconut milk, broth, lime juice, salt and honey (use sugar or maple syrup for low fodmap), stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.

Stir in the rice and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Remove the cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Add the cilantro, and lime zest to the rice. Fluff it in with a fork. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serves 4

You can probably make this in a rice cooker, but check your instructions for swapping out liquids.

I tripled this recipe for the international dinner, and it made a ton of delicious coconut rice that students gobbled up in an instant. Several told me it was their favorite thing. Just because students angling for an “A” grade said this, is not proof that the rice was not fabulous.