Never EVER Buy This Brand of Coconut Milk

coconut milk

 

Cheap is expensive.

 

VERY EXPENSIVE.

 

How many times have you been told that? But do you listen? NO.

 

I know cheap is expensive. In fact most time I will not buy cheap brands but sometimes the Kikuyu in me just can not resist what SEEMS like a bargain. The key word there is SEEMS.


So a couple of months ago as I was doing my usual shopping for coming back to Kakuma. Remember when you would shop before boarding school? Yes it’s more or less the same, 2 soaps, 3 tissues, quencher juice, tooth paste, blueband etc. Anyway I digress  back to my shopping. I always get coconut milk so when I got to them I noticed there was a new brand. As we all know coconut milk is not cheap some go for as much as 350 a can. For a girl who needs at least 5 that adds up to at least 1500 shillings. So when I saw one that cost about 200, do not remember the exact price just that it was around 100 shillings cheaper than most, I got very curious.

 

So in my head I wondered why it was so much cheaper. But again I rationalized that coconut milk is coconut milk. You know the way canned sweet corn is canned  sweet corn and canned mushrooms is canned mushrooms. I told my self that it can’t be that bad maybe just a little bit lighter but boy was I wrong.

 

So I picked my 5 cans of KENTASTE coconut milk. WORST MISTAKE EVER!! GOSH!! First time I cooked with it my food tasted funny, so I said maybe it the spices second time same thing and the smell was also not that appealing. So I decided to open one can and just look at it and when I smelled it, it smelled like chemicals. So I opened a can of another brand don’t remember which one and the difference was ALARMING. So I poured out the Kentaste. I put the thought at the back of my head till a few months ago when I was visiting a friend. I was going to cook so I carried my ingredients and found that they had Kentaste but thank God I had carried my own coconut milk on explaining the difference and showing them my friend agreed.

 

Now yesterday, after like 4 months, I decided to make Mahamris. I remembered the Kentaste and thought that maybe I could use that coz the flour, sugar and cardamom would surely mask the taste. I opened a can and felt sick immediately. I was a punget annoying disgusting eeeew smell with a hint coconut. So what I decided not to use it. I opened a can of Royal Umbrella Coconut milk and WOW what I got was a nice rich coconut smell that was pure white.

 

If you look at the photo below closely you can actually see the difference in colour.

 

coconut milk

Royal Umbrella is a rich white color while Kentaste looks diluted. To be honest the smell of Kentaste on its own and in food is really disgusting so I poured it out.

 

Do not buy it. Yes it cheap. Yes it Kenyan. We would love to support local industries but they also need to step up and give us good quality products that compete well with the rest.

 

PLEASE NOTE

I am not marketing Royal Umbrella it is not the coconut milk I always use, its just what I had yesterday. They have not paid me to advertise them nor has anyone paid me for this review. I am not saying you should use Royal Umbrella just that you SHOULD NOT use KENTASTE. The opinions on this post are MY OWN

18 Comments

  • Grace Erikodi November 29, 2012 at 4:35 PM

    Thank you Foodie in The Desert for the warning. God Bless!

  • Liz November 29, 2012 at 6:01 PM

    I always use American garden coconut milk,ts rich and tasty once I open the can I transfer the remaining contents in a plastic container for storage.

  • Christine November 30, 2012 at 10:35 AM

    Thanx for this post,I lav coconut fish n now i know which brand of coconut milk 2avoid.

  • Joy December 3, 2012 at 7:55 AM

    I got some a while ago, they were selling it directly to guys @ their stand @ ASK show and it was quite good and thick…
    Usually use Kara and I thought theirs was better.. Interesting, seems what goes on the counters is not the good stuff then.

  • fareen December 9, 2012 at 7:50 PM

    Better still y don we just make our own coconut milk…..its so easy to make and cheap. You can always make a lot and freeze the rest for later use. I will recommend to everyone to make their own at home and see the diffrence

  • Kajeo January 27, 2013 at 12:30 PM

    I make homemade coconut milk using store bought dessicated coconut (unsweetened) coz I’m not in Kenya so no mbuzi or coconuts here unless u want overpriced sorry looking coconuts in the ‘exotic foods’ section :). I’m not sure whether you’ll find it as creamy as the canned one but it works for my purposes.

    Roughly adapted from an online recipe I use ratio of 1:2 coconut to hot (not boiling) water. Recipe says u can add vanilla extract and stevia if you like but I’ve never added either. I keep it simple coz I make it usually to add to my baby’s food.

    1) Place shredded coconut in a bowl of hot (not boiling), pure water. Let soak for 1-2 hours. Do NOT discard the water.
    2) In the blender, combine coconut, soaking water, and vanilla, if using. Blend on the highest speed for about a minute.
    3) Strain liquid through a nut milk bag, paint strainer bag or very, very fine cheesecloth, pressing out all the liquid you can. (I didn’t have any of these so just used a light muslin cloth and it worked)
    4) Discard solids or save them for adding to baked treats.

    Use immediately or store in the fridge. Good for 3-4 days. Since there are no preservatives or fillers, the fat in the coconut milk may separate on the top if stored in the fridge. Just shake or stir before using.

    Tip: What I do with my excess is freeze in a silicone muffin tray or one can use an ice cube tray and freeze then I just defrost as many cubes as I need. The portions are perfect for baby meals.

    • Wangeci Wandere January 27, 2013 at 3:17 PM

      Hi Kajeo,

      Thank you so much for your post.. I am sure other readers will find it informative. I have used this method before and It is quite good just labor some and if you can get coconut milk why not. Also when you let the milk settle the cream comes to the top so u can use this as coconut cream and the bottom that is lighter as milk. I have never thought of freezing it that way. That is a brilliant idea. Thank you

  • Rose Gakii January 28, 2013 at 8:46 PM

    am regretting deeply.thats the worst product have ever come across.the smell is so pungent and awful.i ope the govt could abolish such products.have discarded the whole tin immediately after opening.yuck!

    • Wangeci Wandere January 28, 2013 at 9:31 PM

      LOL @the government abolishing it. I did the same thing tho last time i tried using it, i opened it and just threw it all out. its disgusting smelling. Pole now u know, just make sure you spread the word. I just wonder dont they have a quality assurance division!!

  • Claris May 31, 2013 at 3:36 PM

    well have been using the product for sometime now and so far i have no regrets i wonder whether there was a batch manufacturing error or someone duplicated the product. I also have no problem with the other company products its just that they are lighter in terms of the rich coconut taste on inquiry i was told coconut taste varies with location/species so that cant be altered.

    • Wangeci Wandere June 3, 2013 at 6:42 PM

      Hi Claris, I guess everyone has a different experience. I bought this coconut milk a couple of time trying to figure out if its the batch id gotten but no it was not. It smell horrible and smells and tastes like chemicals (whatever that means)I actually opened my last can when i had a guest in the house and they asked me what the bad smell was. I wouldnt recommend it or even ever use it again. itst he cheapest in the market and i guess that is why its not the best

  • Norbert Mbewa June 5, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    Hi Wangeci Wandere,
    Thank you for your information that you posted concerning Kentaste Coconut Milk. We would appreciate if you could contact us directly so that we can address your concerns.

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