Sunday, November 18, 2007

Homemade Kaya


Kaya is a very Malaysian and Singaporean jam, made out of coconut milk. Almost everyone in this country grew up with this jam, at the time when strawberry, raspberry jam are not even heard of in this country. Kaya spread on toasts is a common delectable breakfast item.

Today people actually franchise this item. Kaya and Toast are opening everywhere. There are kaya puffs, kaya toasts and kaya buns. People get kaya (translation from Malay ~Rich) from kaya. My dear hubby has been bugging me (yes he is quite good at bugging) for this whenever he has toasts for breakfast. So I decided to indulge him. I refuse to buy kaya from stores because they have what Auntie Terri calls "addictives that are allowed".

Homemade kaya is not as hard to make as kaya makers would tell you. It is as simple as throw-it-in-a-pot and voila you get kaya. Maybe not so simple but definitely close to that simple.

185 gm of thick coconut milk, i.e. the first squeeze
400 gm of castor sugar
2 tbsp of brown sugar, use the reddish brown type, will give kaya the colour
5 no of large eggs
5-6 pandan leaves, washed, cut and tied in bundles

1) Stir coconut milk with sugar and brown sugar til sugar almost dissolved.

2) Add in beaten up eggs. Continue stirring til all mixture is evenly mixed.

3) Add pandan leaves. And start cooking over medium fire for about 3-5 minutes stirring all the time til mixture is warm. Turn to low medium fire and continue stirring. Be careful of the pot bottom sides. Stir til mixture starts to thicken, about another edited: 12-18 minutes (not too long because kaya maybe too dry).

4) Edited: Strain throught as sieve into container/s that you will be keeping kaya in permanently. Cool before you close lid.

Things to watch out for:
Use a heavy pot so that mixture will not be easily burnt.
Please do not cut down on sugar as the caramelisation will help to smoothen the mixture. Spread and use sparingly if you must.
Cooking fire must NOT be big and mixture must not be boiling bubbling. Slight bubbles on side is ok. Keep on stirring. If too hot the fire will cause the eggs to be overly cooked and thus separated causing the mixture to be lumpy and eggy.
Dont change containers. Kaya turns bad easily if you change containers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, true, sometimes when I see kaya selling on shelves I dare not buy because of the amount of preservatives they add in. Whenever I crave for kaya and toast I just go and have them in those kopitiams. Your kaya looks so smooth and nice! =)

Greg Wee said...

Greg's report: I had pita toasted bread this morning with kaya & butter. Yum! I have to tell you that kaya & butter goes well together, even with Jacob cream crackers. Cheese is another good substitute for butter with kaya!

Anonymous said...

Sheesh, I want homemade kaya!

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