Nonya Kaya

While I was studying in Singapore I came across a local chain named Ya Kun Kaya Toast and it was there that I discovered kaya toast. Boy did that experience change my life.

For those unaccustomed to kaya, its basically a spread made from coconut milk and pandan leaves. Kaya comes in two varieties: nonya (which has a natural pale green color due to the addition of pandan juice) or hainanese (which is more brown as a result of the use of caramelized or brown sugar. This recipe is for nonya kaya, mainly because I love the taste of pandan and also because it results in such a uniquely colored jam.

Ok, now getting back to Ya Kun. I had gotten up early one morning and was just exploring around the city when I came upon this restaurant. I was pretty hungry since it was quite early so I stopped by and noticed that the kaya was pandan flavored. At this point I still didn’t know what kaya was, but I knew I liked pandan so I immediately went for it.

Kaya toast is a pretty traditional Singaporean breakfast item and the kaya toast here was served as a set with kopi (traditional Singaporean/Malaysian coffee), some slices of kaya toast with slabs of butter in them, and a side of soft boiled eggs.

I normally HATE soft boiled eggs because I don’t like the taste of yolks, but I was feeling a bit more adventurous in my eating habits that day so I decided to go along with it. I was watching to see how other people around me were eating the toast and they seemed to dip it in the eggs, so I followed suit. I can’t describe the experience in words because it was literally just TOO DAMN GOOD. The yolks and butter were so rich, but the sweetness of the kaya jam perfectly cut through all of that and helped elevate the breakfast so much. Needless to say I was so impressed I started coming to Ya Kun every week and the star of the dish, the kaya jam, left such a big impression on me that my suitcase back home was filled halfway with jars of kaya jam.

Back to the recipe though. So I had been having a really hard time finding fresh pandan leaves in my area, but a new asian grocery store opened up recently and I went and saw pandan leaves there! I immediately bought some and the first recipe that came to mind was kaya jam.

The recipe is relatively easy to make, just a bit time consuming since you’re basically sitting in front of a pot, stirring until it all thickens, but it’s oh so rewarding. The jam is coconutty and sweet, but by no means does the pandan flavor play second fiddle to that.

One tip for this recipe, and making kaya in general, is that there will always be a possibility of the eggs curdling. No worries though! If the eggs start to curdle as you cook down the kaya, just keep cooking until the kaya thickens up to an appropriate amount and then just blend the whole thing smooth and strain through a sieve! Blending and straining can also be done even if the eggs don’t curdle as it helps to ensure a really nice and silky kaya!

Nonya Kaya

ryanllee FacebookTweetPin While I was studying in Singapore I came across a local chain named Ya Kun Kaya Toast and it was there… Breakfast Nonya Kaya European Print This

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 45 minutes 45 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

Kaya

• 5 eggs
• 1 cup palm sugar (or granulated sugar)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 3 tbsp pandan juice
• 1/4 tsp pandan extract (optional)

Pandan juice

• 4-5 pandan leaves
• 3 tbsp water

Instructions

Pandan juice

1. Cut the pandan leaves into 1 inch strips and place in a blender with the water
2. Blend the leaves together with the water and strain out the liquid
3. Press the broken up leaves through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth in order to get as much pandan juice out of it as you can! (the more fresh the pandan leaves, the more juice they'll have!)

Kaya

1. In a medium sauce pot, whisk together the eggs and sugar
2. Then pour in the coconut milk and pandan juice and mix to combine
3. Put the pot over low-medium heat (double boiler method is encouraged but not absolutely required if the heat remains low) and constantly whisk until the mixture has thickened (anywhere from 30-50 minutes depending on desired end consistency)
4. NOTE: if the eggs curdle at any point, this is completely fine! just keep whisking together the mixture until it has thickened to the desired consistency, then pour it all into a blender and blend until smoooooth!
5. After the kaya has finished thickening (blend the mixture if a smoother consistency is desired), transfer to a lidded, air tight container and keep refrigerated until ready for use