A much-loved breakfast staple (and some times mid-afternoon snack), kaya toast just simply isn’t complete without its namesake coconut jam.
Back in the kampong days of Singapore, making this delicious spread was a ceremonial and tedious affair. After all, it did take hours of straining and boiling.
However, if you’re feeling nostalgic, here’s a delicious kaya recipe you can try:
Equipment:
- Double boiler
- Three muslin cloth bags
- Two medium-sized jars
Ingredients:
- 6 pandan leaves, cut into 4cm lengths
- 2 tbsp water
- 750g fresh grated coconut
- 300ml water (to get 500ml coconut milk)
- 6 fresh eggs (60g each)
- 250g sugar
- 100g sugar for caramel
- 4 pandan leaves, knotted
1. Place cut pandan leaves and two tablespoons of water in a blender. Blend into pulp.
2. Transfer pulp into a muslin bag and squeeze to extract the pandan juice. Reserve four tablespoons of the pandan juice and discard the pulp.
3. Place grated coconut in a large bowl. Add 300ml of water to it and let it stand for 20 minutes. Strain the coconut mixture using a muslin bag to squeeze and extract the coconut milk. Reserve 500ml of coconut milk and discard pulp.
4. In a bowl, crack the eggs and add 250g of sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and add the coconut milk. Stir briefly.
5. Strain the coconut milk and egg mixture through a clean muslin bag into the upper container of a double boiler and set aside.
6. In a saucepan, place 100g of sugar. Over low heat, melt the sugar to caramelise it and turn off the heat.
7. Fill the lower pot of the double boiler with 500ml of water and place upper pot over it, uncovered. Heat the double boiler over low heat. Pour the caramelised sugar into coconut milk and egg mixture.
8. The sugar will solidify but will gradually dissolve as mixture heats up.
9. Whisk occasionally for the first 15 minutes. Add knotted pandan leaves and whisk continuously for another 15 minutes.
10. Remove pandan leaves and add the pandan juice. Whisk constantly for another 15 to 30 minutes until the kaya reaches a thicker consistency.
11. Remove the kaya from the double boiler and transfer into a clean bowl to cool.
12. If you want a smoother consistency, run the kaya through a blender.
13. Store in air-tight glass jars and keep refrigerated. It should keep for up to a week.
Text: The New Paper Additional Reporting: Atika Lim