Coconut oil in Thai cooking

[Kanga Japan]

I am just wondering whether Thais use coconut oil when cooking. If so, is the use of this traditional, or only recent (considering that the production of coconut oil has changed over the years, making it a very healthy oil).

I have many Thai cookbooks (over 80) and none of them mention the use of coconut oil.

Thank you for your help.

[AyG]

Traditionally pork fat was used for cooking, so any sort of vegetable oil isn't old school.

At first the use of vegetable oils was very regional. In the south of Thailand coconut oil was pretty common given the abundance of coconut palms; they don't grow that well north of Bangkok. However, it's not a great oil for cooking since it becomes rancid very quickly. It does, however, have a high smoke point. I don't particularly like it and have noticed it fairly frequently in the cooking of southern Thai restaurants around Bangkok.

Subsequently there was the rise of the cheaper oils: palm and soya bean. Thai people (for the most part being poor) gravitate towards the cheapest possible oil.

Having written that I thought about frying in Thai cuisine. Really, frying is a technique imported from China. It requires metal vessels and historically Thailand didn't have the metal working capability. Traditionally coconut milk was "cracked" to separate out the oil to allow for the frying of the curry paste. Is this possible with clay vessels? Or would the paste just have been boiled with the coconut milk before the arrival of Chinese technology? I don't know.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear AyG,

It's good to hear from you! I have just returned to Tokyo.

Thank you so much for that very detailed explanation, regarding the use of coconut oil in Thai cuisine.

Much appreciated.

[Seligne2]

Traditionally pork fat was used for cooking, so any sort of vegetable oil isn't old school.

At first the use of vegetable oils was very regional. In the south of Thailand coconut oil was pretty common given the abundance of coconut palms; they don't grow that well north of Bangkok. However, it's not a great oil for cooking since it becomes rancid very quickly. It does, however, have a high smoke point. I don't particularly like it and have noticed it fairly frequently in the cooking of southern Thai restaurants around Bangkok.

Subsequently there was the rise of the cheaper oils: palm and soya bean. Thai people (for the most part being poor) gravitate towards the cheapest possible oil.

Having written that I thought about frying in Thai cuisine. Really, frying is a technique imported from China. It requires metal vessels and historically Thailand didn't have the metal working capability. Traditionally coconut milk was "cracked" to separate out the oil to allow for the frying of the curry paste. Is this possible with clay vessels? Or would the paste just have been boiled with the coconut milk before the arrival of Chinese technology? I don't know.

I think you will find that due to its high saturated fat content, coconut oil is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification.

Also, it has a very low smoke point, lower than palm, soybean, olive, corn, rapeseed, etc.