What to do with coconut vinegar?

[scoobyhed]

I'm subletting an apartment for the next few months, and was told I was welcome to use any of the cooking supplies in the kitchen. My landlord is apparently very into Asian cooking--lots of garam masala, curry paste and fish sauce. But there's also a bottle of coconut vinegar, something I'd never seen before. I love coconut, but this stuff doesn't smell much like coconut. Anyone out there know what it's used for?

[Sam Fujisaka]

Its a filipino ingredient. I've not seen any elsewhere in Asia. It might be like banana ketchup: in all of my years in the Philippines, I never used the stuff and saw no one else that did. And I did eat and drink everything else there--from balut to adidas to lambanoag...

[Eat_Nopal]

Balut.... you are a brave, brave man!

[Prawn Cocktail]

I'd never heard of it. Does it really add anything to an Asian dish which already has many other strong flavors?

[minnie green]

Hi All, I came here looking for more information, and found you hadn't found what I just found. Here it is: coconut vinegar fermented coconut tree sap. It is taken from the top flower stalk by slicing the top off and hanging a container there to collect the sap, which is done on a daily basis. It's then fermented and bottled, or honey added, pasteurized and bottled. Very healthy and somehow has the mother after pasteurized, which has me baffled. All is done mostly in the Phillipines. Use on many raw veggie dishes as part of a dressing, in soups, on meat bbq, etc. Seems as versatile as other vinegars, pure and healthy with low acidity like organic apple cider vinegar or some rare low acid balsamic vinegars. All others are highly acidic. I'm hopefully buying some this afternoon at Whole Foods, and if they don't have it, I'm getting the manager to order it!!

[coolbean98]

My family and I love coconut vinegar with green mangoes, or in a salad similar to that like Thai green papaya (or mango for that matter) salad. I am also Pinay (i.e. Filipino), so there you go!

Like cane vinegar, it's not as versatile because of its sweetness, and I don't recommend it in straight-up sour things like adobo unless you want a really unusually sweet adobo (I used it once and it was too weird for me). The sweetness is useful, though, for things like BBQ and sweet and sour sauces.

[bobbyperu]

I had a Vietnamese friend that used it all the time - usually as a finishing touch in soups. One of my favorites she made included beef, tofu and cherry tomatoes.

[pitu]

I've seen it at the grocery*, made in the Philippines . . .
did you taste it?

*Hong Kong Market, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

[scoobyhed]

Pitu, it tastes very sour, like regular vinegar, with a little hint of coconut behind it. The ingredient list says it's made from fermented coconut and water, so it's not coconut-flavored vinegar; it's really vinegar made from coconuts.

[FAB]

I think adamclyde is on the right track....sounds to me like something the would be used mostly in Thai cuisine.

[adamclyde]

never heard of it before, but it sounds like a good chicken marinade is awaiting you... coconut vinegar, oil, lemon grass, thai chiles, salt/pepper, etc.... give it a try!

[rokzane]

Never heard of coconut vinegar. I've never even seen it at the Asian Supermarket (which is huge). I do use cane sugar vinegar from the Philippens (spelling?), which we use for chicken and pork adobo. Maybe it's interchable for something like that.