Coconut cream (kati — กะทิ) is the defining fat of Thai curry cooking, but its role goes beyond richness — the process of "cracking" coconut cream (splitting the emulsion to render the coconut oil, which then fries the curry paste) is the foundational technique of Thai gaeng (curry) cookery. This technique, documented in detail by Thompson, is the single most important step that separates properly made Thai curry from the approximations of Western cooking.
The complete coconut cream cracking technique and its applications.
THAI CULINARY TRADITION — DEEP EXTRACTION