Kaya (Coconut Egg Custard)

Sascha's Note:

Kaya (or Serikaya) is an Asian coconut egg custard that is eaten spread on thin toast with lots of butter. Is it a traditional breakfast in Singapore and Malaysia. The directions in this recipe come from "Cook Malaysian" by Lee Sook Ching, with a slightly modified ingredient list to make things simpler for people outside of Asia. I find pandan leaves in my local Asian market, but I have also used pandan extract with good results. It can be omited, but the flavor won't be the same. I press the mixture through a sieve before bottling.

• Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 ¼ cups coconut cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 -3 pandan leaves , knotted

Directions:

1. Start with one cup of sugar, but more can be used. Use less/more pandan, depending on the level of fragrance you want this to have.
2. Combine the eggs and sugar in a bowl until well blended and the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Add in coconut cream and mix well.
4. Pour mixture into the top of a double boiler and "steam" uncovered for 1 hour, stirring constantly.
5. Cover then "steam" for another 2 hours, refilling with boiling water and stirring mixture every 1/2 hour.
6. After steaming for a combined 3 hours, the mixture should be thick and golden brown.
7. Add the knotted pandan leaves and allow the mixture to "steam" for another hour without stirring.
8. Remove knotted pandan leaves and cool before filling into clean, warm bottles to store.

Reviews

[Chef #1257711]

The recipe was great. I have missed it for so long. The store bought stuff is just not the same. I made mine with exact ingredients. I put everything in a double boiler and stired. It was 5 minutes prep, and 1 hour to cook. I love it because texture is lumpy and green, exactly the way I like it.

[Nisa]

Such a great recipe! I had a recipe before which I normally used but yesterday when I felt like making up a batch of kaya i found that I had lost my recipe! But I tried yours but did make some modifications, instead of white sugar I added brown sugar ( i like a dark color ) and instead of steaming it (I dont have a steamer) I cooked it on extremely low heat instead, and I also increased the coconut milk/cream to 1 3/4 cups. The end result was a bit waterier than I wanted, but I guess it was because I added more milk than requested, and it was slightly curdled, but besides that it was absolutely delish! Thanks so much for this recipe Sascha :)