Vietnamese-inspired Coconut Gelatin

A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers brought in coconut gelatin and gave us all a taste, and wow that stuff is good! It’s light-tasting and refreshing, and definitely makes a good, indulgent breakfast, if you can’t help yourself but eat it at every opportunity until it’s gone (ahem).

My coworker’s recipe (which I didn’t follow because apparently I deleted it from my email) is something like:
– One can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
– One can water
– Half a box of gelatin (so 2 packets, I guess)
– and I don’t remember how much sugar – I think 2/3 or 3/4 cup

The recipe I ended up following was Lana’s which was basically the same thing, only it also called for almond extract, which I think was a nice addition, and less gelatin – 1 packet per cup of coconut milk.

I garnished mine with strawberries, which was delicious! My coworker says sometimes she roasts and crushes peanuts, and then sprinkles that in a middle layer of the gelatin, and that that’s delicious too.

In an effort to tell the whole truth, I should tell you that it didn’t actually really gel enough. You could eat it with a spoon, but it was soupy. And it definitely wasn’t hard enough to cut into squares like the recipe says, or fit to stand up to a roof-top party, as was the original intent.

According to my coworker, this has actually happened to her once before for no apparent reason, so maybe it wasn’t my fault? But I plan to use the higher amount of gelatin in my next batch (as there will certainly be one!) just to be sure.