warm it up a little first.

edit, to elaborate:

the fat in coconut milk (coconut oil) melts around 76 degrees. so if you let yr can sit in some hot water for a bit and then shake it - it mixes up better. i sometimes pour it in a pan and heat it up.

additionally, look for brands that have the highest calories per serving; "coconut milk" is just coconut meat + varying amounts of water. i figure the less water, the less mixing.. unless it has stabilizers/emulsifiers, as you mentioned. yuk.

if i want it really creamy i'll open it without shaking and dump the watery stuff and only use the 'lumps'.

Whisk it! Works Wonders!

immersion blender works great for me, I use the actual cup it came with to drink from...makes it all frothy!!

I drop the contents of that can in the might vitamix blender. Then put it back in the can and refrigerate it.

I wash (blend again, actually) the leftover coconut milk out of the blender with a cuppa coffee. Mmmmm!

My coffee frother works wonders for emulsifying the fats. They're uber-cheap, too, but that little motor in it works hard. Most of them are ~10$ or less. :)

And as far as mess and clean up goes, you can stick the little guy straight into the can and all you need is a quick rinse afterward. (Erm, I realize that sounds terribly crude. Sorry about that. >.> Clearly, eloquent descriptions are not my forte.)

Before I buy a can, I shake it pretty hard. If I don't hear any sloshing, that sucker goes back on the shelf for the non-shakers to get shafted with. Sometimes I go through a dozen cans to find 2 that pass the test, and yes, I look like an idiot doing this. This way, I'm sure I'll always have nice, creamy coconut milk to use once I open the can. If I don't use it all and toss it in the fridge, sometimes I melt it in a saucepan before adding it to whatever needs it. Recently, I've tried using up most of the chunky stuff after I first open the can so that once I take it out of the fridge later, there's hardly any chunks at all since the cold condenses some of the creamy milk anyway.

I have a gas stove, so I just put the whole can on one of the heating elements turned on low. I heat each end a bit and shake well. THEN I open it, stir all the lumps out of it, and put the whole thing into the fridge to thicken more consistently throughout.

Add frozen blueberries and you've got an amazing paleo treat.

I liks the lumps - apt to taste rather sweet with berries - then I use the rest for a squash soup - put some fish or shrimp in and veggies - curry or just tumeric and marsala - meal in minutes!

The day I plan on using it (I eat it like ice cream for a light dinner) I throw it in the fridge for a couple of hours of freezer for around half an hour. The 'meat' solidifies while the 'water' collects on the bottom. I just scoop the cream out and discard the water (or you can save it, I don't).

I was just bitching about people who want homogeneous coconut milk. It separates, deal with it people !

That being said, fat content is important. I find the more, the better, texture and taste wise.