Kaya is coconut jam made with coconut cream or milk, flavoured with pandan leaves and sweetened with palm and white sugar. This is the stuff that nostalgic dreams are made of!
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
What is Kaya?
Kaya means rich (in Malay), and is the perfect description for this indulgent local coconut spread, since kaya flavour is described as rich, creamy and aromatic.
Often translated as coconut jam, kaya comes in 2 colours. It’s a sweet and creamy spread that’s pretty much eaten the way one would eat fruit jams, with bread and butter. Served this way, with the bread toasted, it’s known as kaya toast.
Kaya is the shortened form of serikaya, as it’s known in Singapore, Malay and Indonesia. In Thailand, it’s known as sangkhaya.
The Two Colours of Kaya
So the 2 colours. In Singapore and Malaysia, you’ll find 2 versions of kaya, one, the green one you see here, the other, a honey brown colour similar to caramel sauce.
We flavour both types of kaya with pandan leaves. But in the green one, called pandan kaya, the leaves are blended with a little coconut milk or water, and the resulting juice or extract is added, turning the whole concoction green. We call this pandan kaya.
In the brown kaya, also known as Hainanese kaya, the leaves are added whole, imparting a subtle flavour.
Origin of Kaya
No one can quite agree on the origin of kaya, whatever its colour. Some say it’s a Eurasian heritage via the Portuguese, while others say the Hainanese immigrants brought it with them to Singapore and Malaysia. And yet others insist that it’s a Malay creation.
One of the earliest mentions of serikaya, according to Khir Johari is in an early 17th century Malay manuscript called Cerita Kutai (The Story of Kutai). In his book The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago, Khir postulates that since kaya was already in existence in the Malay kitchen hundreds of years ago, the Portuguese were influenced by our kaya instead of the other way around.
So seriaca, the Portuguese pudding from Alentejo, owes its origin to serikaya, via returning Portuguese sailors.
Whatever its origin, suffice it to say, it holds a special place in the hearts of most Singaporeans and Malaysians.
Pandan Kaya Recipe
It’s your lucky day.
Proper, traditional, old fashioned pandan kaya is a labour of love. It takes at least an hour of stirring (if not more) for the coconut custard to thicken and become that luscious, creamy spread.
Pandan kaya takes a little longer to cook because of the added liquid (the pandan juice). The more liquid you add and the more sugar you use, the longer the whole process will take as there’s more moisture that needs cooking off.
But WE are going to be cooking my Cheat’s Kaya today.
It takes less time and effort but tastes just as incredibly delicious!
This is what we’ll be doing:
- Make the pandan juice by grinding up the leaves with a little coconut milk. Strain.
- Heat the pandan juice, coconut milk, sugars and salt over medium-low heat.
- Mix the cornflour with some water or coconut milk to form a paste.
- Lightly whisk the egg yolks, adding the cornflour paste to them.
- Temper the egg yolks mix with a little hot coconut milk and pandan liquid.
- Pour the egg yolk mix into the saucepan and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring regularly until it resembles thick custard.
Total cooking time = about 20 minutes.
Hands on time = about 35 minutes.
Kaya Ingredients
Eggs
We use egg yolks to achieve that rich creaminess synonymous with traditional kaya. Much like when making homemade custard (recipe on LinsFood.com).
Save your egg whites for making pavlova or simple meringues.
Sugar
I use a mixture of gula melaka and white sugar. Gula melaka is a dark, rich and toasty palm sugar, an essential ingredient in Singaporean and Malaysian kitchens.
If you use only white sugar, you’ll have a more vibrant green coconut jam, but your pandan spread won’t quite have the same depth of flavour.
You should be able to find gula melaka at East and South East Asian stores, and most definitely, online.
Here is one of the brands I use, available on Amazon (hopefully, where you are).
Can’t get gula melaka? Use light or dark brown sugar, or coconut sugar. The darker the sugar, the darker your kaya.
Coconut Milk or Cream
Regular coconut milk will give you a coconut jam that’s not quite as rich. So what you want is a combination of the two, or just coconut cream. I’m assuming here that you’ll be using canned coconut milk.
If all you can get is coconut milk, don’t shake the can, just scoop off the thick fatty cream at the top, and lose the water. You’ll have to use 2-3 cans to get the right amount of cream.
I use coconut cream that has a 90% coconut content.
Pandan Leaves
Pandan leaves are essential when making kaya. If you have access to East Asian stores, you’ll find them either sold fresh, or more commonly, in the freezer section.
Can’t find pandan leaves? Leave them out and make your kaya with a higher brown to white sugar ratio.
Note: if your coconut milk or coconut cream is very thick (this depends on the brand), blending the pandan leaves to extract the juice may be a bit tricky. So you may have to add a little water.
We don’t want too much water, as we’ll have to cook off the water, increasing the cooking time.
How Long will it Keep?
Fresh homemade kaya will keep in the fridge for 7 – 10 days.
Can you freeze kaya? Technically, yes, up to a month or so. However, its consistency changes, and I think it’s best to store it in your fridge and consumed within a week.
How to use it?
Kaya is firstly, a spread, much like fruit jams and honey.
I love it best spread on toast. Kaya toast is a childhood favourite for many Singaporeans and Malaysians.
But you can also use it as a topping on pancakes, waffles and ice cream. On top of that, kaya is a very popular ingredient in pastries and cakes. I’m sure you are familair with pandan chiffon cake.
And there you have it. An easy pandan kaya recipe for you to enjoy. Even if you can find it where you live, this homemade version is free of additives, always a bonus!
If you like the recipe and article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and a rating! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Easy Kaya Recipe
Equipment
- 1 blender see Notes
- 1 ladle
- spoons as needed
Ingredients
- 4 pandan leaves
- 250 g coconut cream or coconut milk with at least 70% coconut extract. See Notes below
- 1 tsp cornflour cornstarch in the US
- 4 egg yolks large
- 90 g white sugar caster or granulated
- 30 g gula melaka or coconut sugar/brown sugar, see article
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
PREP WORK
Extract the pandan juice
- Snip the pandan leaves with a pair of scissors and drop into your blender or food processor. Add half the coconut cream or milk and blend until the leaves are finely shredded to extract the pandan juice.If your cream/milk is very thick, add 1 or 2 Tbsp water to help the grinding, using a tall spoon to dislodge stick bits.Ideally, we don't want added water, but if you have to, you have to.4 pandan leaves
Cornflour Paste
- Make a paste with the cornflour and 1 Tbsp of coconut cream plus 1 Tbsp water.If your coconut milk/cream is not too thick, skip the water.1 tsp cornflour
Egg Yolks
- Whisk the egg yolks lightly to loosen, then whisk in the cornflour paste.4 egg yolks
Let's get Cooking
- You could have started this part before doing the cornflour and egg yolks, as I do in the video.Place the pandan extract, coconut milk, both sugars and salt into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.Simmer for 5 minutes to allow the sugars to fully dissove.250 g coconut cream, 90 g white sugar , 30 g gula melaka, 1 pinch salt
- Now, we're going to temper our egg yolks, so they don't scramble.Take the pandan and coconut mixture off the stove. Take a small amount, about 1 Tbsp of the hot liquid, and very slowly, drizzle it onto the egg yolks, whisking continuosuly while you're drizzling.Repeat 3 more times.
- Then pour the tempered egg yolks into the saucepan, stirring while you're doing it.
- Place the saucepan on medium-low heat once again and bring to a simmer.Once it's simmering, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until you get a thick custard-like mixture.The time it takes, will depend on your coconut milk/cream and how much water you may have added.Your kaya will thicken further as it cools and even more once refrigerated.
- When done, transfer to a clean jar. Leave to cool to room temperature and store for up to 10 days in the fridge.
Notes
If you are using coconut milk, get one with as much coconut extract as possible, and add 2-3 Tbsp of coconut cream. See article. My current favourite cookware is by HexClad. In the video, I’m using their small 2 litre saucepan. Amazon affiliate link to buy here.