Death by Kaya

 

 

 

Kaya

Mmm… mmm…

Kaya originates from the Southeast Asian region. It is a sweet spread made out of white sugar, eggs and coconut milk.

The must have main ingredient amongst other things are the (pandan) screwpine leaves. In Malaysia my mum would send us kids into the neighbor’s yard to grab a handful of these fragrant leaves if we ran out of them in our garden.

In Canada, well there is always the Chinese store to pick some up.

 

Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs beaten with a fork (Remove all the membranes. Why? Because it will show up as white lumps in the final velvety brown product.)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fresh thick coconut milk (or from 1 can = 400ml)
• 5 screwpine (pandan) leaves tied into a knot and shredded slightly with a fork
• 1 tsp vanilla
• A few mini pumpkins
• Rosemary

 

 

Method:

• Break the eggs into a bowl.
• Break the eggs slightly with a fork. DO NOT beat them.
• (Don’t use a whisk either; again the foam will distort the final texture.) Keep it aside.
• Mix the sugar and the coconut milk. Place the coconut milk and sugar over low heat and start stirring with a wooden spoon. My grandmother would tie the screwpine (pandan) leaves to the bottom of the wooden spoon. The screwpine leaves and vanilla can be placed into the mixture at this point.
• Do not let the mixture boil. It should have slightly thickened. At this stage add the eggs slowly and keep stirring. Keep stirring until it reaches the consistency of thick potato puree. It takes an eternity … about 4-5 hours if you are doing a big batch.
• It’s time consuming but worth the effort.

 

My cooking buddy… the 32” color television on my kitchen wall.

 

OR, the must try easy method. (15’ tops) You need a microwave for this one.

 

Step 1

Break the eggs into a bowl.

Break the eggs slightly with a fork, once again, do not beat them. (Do not use a whisk either.) Keep it aside.

 

Step 2

Brown the sugar slightly in a pan. When the sugar has changed color, let it cool. Pour in the coconut milk slowly, a little at a time and keep stirring until the sugar completely melts. Do not let it boil.

(OK, if you do mess up during this step, just strain the mixture and smooth it out into a new pan)

Discard the rest of the lumpy sugar.

 

Step 3

Remove the pan from the stove and add in the egg mixture slowly while still stirring. Add the screwpine leaves and vanilla.

Pour this mixture into a ceramic bowl. Transfer the bowl to the microwave.

 

Step 4

Place the bowl into the microwave for 1 minute on High.

Take it out and stir it slowly with a whisk. (as with anything hot coming out from the microwave – keep your face way from the mixture when stirring)

You can use the whisk at this stage. Scrape all the sides down.

Put it back into the microwave again for 1’.

 

Keep repeating this step for 3 or 4 minutes more. One minute at a time.

 

Return the bowl to the microwave one minute or 50 seconds at a single time. No more.

Once it reaches the consistency of potato puree or starts coating the back of a wooden spoon thickly – stop.

 

Let it cool. As the kaya cools it will get thicker and darker in color.

Remove the screwpine leaves and enjoy a delectable spread called “kaya”. Kaya means rich in Malay.

Indeed it is a rich coconut jam spread. And sometimes duck eggs are used for richer fat content.

 

As with all things you will get better at this recipe with repetition.

My kids can’t get enough of it.

 

Finally,

Kaya

 

In the picture,  above I have the kaya in a mini pumpkin, garnished with Rosemary, one of my favorite herbs.

If you are new to kaya, it’s usually eaten with toasted white bread or sticky rice. Be creative with it. It’s a spread. Spread it away.

 

Don’t shy away from question. I’ll gladly answer them. Here, or on the cooks cooks forum.

For a beautiful collage of Malaysian food please follow me on my Instagram handle: manecutagawri

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Thank you everyone for all the likes and heart warming comments.