Updated post on 23/3/2015

A new illustration for caramel kaya was presented. For this illustration, I have used the quick method of cooking the custard and blending the custard to the consistency I want.

INTRODUCTION

There is nothing to shout about this post.. Most families will know how to prepare kaya or coconut jam… I believed most readers grow up with this breakfast spread on bread.. The recipe is very simple, in essence, it is just coconut milk, sugar and eggs.. The egg mixture was cooked via ban marie method until the custard is set.. For nonya style, pandan leaves were added.and therefore give a green hue.. As for Hainanese style of coconut jam, sugar were caramelized to get the brownish orangey colour and flavour, it was then added to the milk mixture cook using ban marie method.

The ingredients are common but the preparation is slightly laborious… Those who have prepared custard before will know that the eggs and milk tend to curdle if no constant stirring was done.. Lumps will be formed.. To  have smooth silky kaya, constant stirring is required and you may need to stir for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes….

However, there are other easier method.. You can cook the kaya and use a blender the kaya to make it smooth.. Taste will be exactly the same but the texture will not be as smooth as you constantly stir the kaya for 1/2 hour. For purposes of caramel kaya, I have resorted to the use of this method

As a respect to traditional recipe, for Pandan Kaya illustration, I have used the steam stirring method (like the ban marie) to get until the texture that I want. It took me about 40 minutes to do this.. most of time stand by the stove…

As per Wikipedia:

“Kaya, also called Srikaya or coconut egg jam, is a sweet creamy coconut spread made from coconut milk (also known as santan),duck or chicken eggs which are flavoured by pandan leaf and sweetened with sugar. The colour varies depending on the colour of the egg yolks, the amount of pandan and extent of caramelisation of the sugar. As a popular local spread, kaya is typically spread on toast to make kaya toast and eaten in the morning^[1] but is enjoyed throughout the day. Different varieties available include nyonya kaya, which is a lighter green colour, and Hainanese kaya, which is a darker brown and uses caramalised sugar, and is often further sweetened with honey. Kaya is used as a topping for several desserts including pulut taitai or pulut tekan, a dessert of sweet glutinous rice coloured blue with butterfly pea flowers (bunga telang), and pulut seri muka, a similar dessert but coloured green with pandan leaves. It is also used with glutinous rice to make kuih seri kaya. （Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_jam)

If you are interested to have the above Nonya snack recipe, you can refer to this post: Simple Yet Elegant Nonya Kuih–Kuih Pulut Tai Tai, Pulut Tekan, Pulut Tatal (娘惹兰花加椰糕）

WHAT IS REQUIRED

• 5 eggs
• 10 pieces of pandan leaves
• 300 ml or grams of coconut milk
• 200 grams of castor sugar

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Get ready a steamer capable of steaming at least 45 minutes at medium heat.

• Put all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until fine. Sift into a pot. Put the pot on a steamer with hot boiling water.

• Cook the custard above the steam, stir using a balloon whisk  until the kaya have set. Constant stirring is required. For the first 15 minutes, stirring once in every 5 minutes is required. For the next 30 minutes, it is advisable to give a quick stir for every 3 minutes. In the process, you will see the egg mixture getting stickier and stickier. If the jam thicken until a stage whereby when you stir, the line appeared on the jam, it is considered as done. Cool completely before storing in sterilized glass container.

Caramel Kaya

• Melt the sugar in a pan under medium heat until the sugar turn brownish. Off the heat and add coconut milk. Stir until the sugar dissolved. Note that when you add the coconut milk to the syrup, the sugar will recrystallized. Constant stirring will help to expedite the dissolving process. Keep aside for cooling.

• Once the coconut sugar solution have slightly cooled, add the beaten eggs. Transfer the mixture to a wok or pan. Using medium heat, cook the custard until set. Lumpy is okay and it will take about 5-8 minutes depending on your heat. Transfer the cooked custard to a blender. Blend until as fine as possible.

CONCLUSION

Depending on your requirements, you can either use the short cut method by quick cooking the custard and use blender to blend the mixture or using this traditional method..  If I do not tell you which is cooked using traditional method of stirring and which is using the short cut method, can you note the difference?

Do give it a try and see if it suits your taste bud.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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