Kaya (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam)
Published Jul 22, 2013
Updated Sep 12, 2024
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Kaya (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam) - Kaya is a delicious Malaysian jam made with coconut, eggs and caramel. Rich and aromatic jam which is perfect for toast and a cup of coffee.
What Is Kaya
Kaya is one of my favorite Malay words.
The reason is simple: it carries two of my favorite meanings in Malaysian language.
First being rich; secondly, it means an utterly delicious coconut egg jam which is wildly popular in Malaysia and neighboring country Singapore.
In this post, I am going to teach you how to make kaya, a jam that gets me all excited waking up in the morning…the silky smooth jam that goes on warm, crispy buttery toasts, and served with a cup of aromatic Malaysian dark coffee.
Ahh…
Kaya, also known as srikaya, seri kaya, is a confiture made of eggs, coconut milk, sugar and infused with the fragrant aroma of pandan leaf.
The mere mention of kaya conjures up a lot of my childhood memories.
I grew up mostly with my late grandmother—a much celebrated Nyonya cook and kuih (local sweet cake) maker.
The majority of my childhood days were spent in the kitchen, watching my late grandmother and my aunt preparing her many orders.
One of the things that we would always make is kaya, the coconut egg jam that would go on the beautiful blue-color Nyonya kuih called pulut tai tai.
My aunt would always be the designated helper making the kaya.
She would beat the eggs, coconut milk, and sugar mixture with a traditional springy egg beater, and then the mixture would go into an antique yellow color enamel double-boiler sitting over a charcoal burner.
Whenever she made kaya, she would religiously sit in front of the charcoal fire, stirring the kaya diligently for hours, yes, laborious hours!
The kaya that came out from our home kitchen was always silky, smooth, with the richest and freshest taste, complete with a golden brown hue and color unrivaled by any kaya I have ever encountered.
It was pure perfection.
A perfect ten confiture.
Once in a while, my aunt would ask me to help, and I would eagerly take her seat and help with the chore.
Mundane was an understatement, but I often derived a sense of satisfaction watching the egg mixture slowly transformed into a silky and thicker consistency, and then the pale yellowish color transformed to a golden amber color with the addition of caramel.
It was magical…and the taste of the end product was absolutely delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There are many variations of kaya, some are yellowish in color, while others are greenish, or brownish.
The texture varies, too; some are runny, while others are thicker.
My favorite is always the ones which is thick and rich in texture (I don’t like runny and thin kaya), golden brown in color, a color derived from the addition of caramel towards the end of the making process.
While the traditional way of double-boiling is probably the best way to make kaya, nowadays, you can actually make this prized jam in less than an hour.
When I called my aunt for the recipe, she even told me to “cook” the kaya, and skip the hours of stirring.
My kaya recipe below is quick and easy and takes about 30 minutes.
With the help of modern kitchen appliances, the texture is smooth as silk, and the taste is as close as the ones that my aunt used to make.
If my late grandmother were to taste this kaya jam, I am sure she would be so proud of me. It’s sweet, creamy, aromatic, and without any lumps, it’s simply decadent.
Try my kaya recipe and in the next post, I will teach you how to turn your plain old toast into kaya toast that you will soon be hooked on.
Ingredients
- Coconut Milk
- Cornstarch
- Eggs
- Pandan Leaves
- Sugar
- Water
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Crack the eggs into a big bowl or container, follow by the coconut cream, coconut milk, and sugar. Whisk well, or using an electronic hand mixer, whisk the mixture well. Filter the mixture with a strainer.
Step 2: Transfer the egg mixture into a sauce pan (non-stick preferred). Add the pandan leaves into the egg mixture and turn on the heat to medium low. Using a wood spatula or a pair of wooden chopsticks, keep stirring the mixture until they are cooked, about 20 minutes. To thicken the kaya, add the corn starch mixture, stir to combine well with the kaya. Please take note that lumps will form in the jam.
Step 3: In the meantime, heat up the sugar for the Caramel in a sauce pan until the sugar melts into caramel. When the color becomes golden brown, add the caramel into the kaya, stir to combine well. The color of the kaya should be golden brown. Turn off the heat.
Step 4: Let the kaya jam cool down, discard the pandan leaves and transfer the kaya to a blender. Blend until it reaches a silky smooth consistency and without lumps. Transfer the kaya to a jam bottle. You can keep it in the fridge for about a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 199 calories per serving.
Other Recipes You Might Like
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Kaya (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam)
Ingredients
- 4-5 eggs
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 3 pandan leaves, tie into a knot
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tbsp water
Caramel:
- 50 – 75 g (1¾ – 2¾ oz) sugar
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a big bowl or container, follow by the coconut cream, coconut milk, and sugar. Whisk well, or using an electronic hand mixer, whisk the mixture well. Filter the mixture with a strainer.
- Transfer the egg mixture into a sauce pan (non-stick preferred). Add the pandan leaves into the egg mixture and turn on the heat to medium low. Using a wood spatula or a pair of wooden chopsticks, keep stirring the mixture until they are cooked, about 20 minutes. To thicken the kaya, add the corn starch mixture, stir to combine well with the kaya. Please take note that lumps will form in the jam.
- In the meantime, heat up the sugar for the Caramel in a sauce pan until the sugar melts into caramel. When the color becomes golden brown, add the caramel into the kaya, stir to combine well. The color of the kaya should be golden brown. Turn off the heat.
- Let the kaya jam cool down, discard the pandan leaves and transfer the kaya to a blender. Blend until it reaches a silky smooth consistency and without lumps. Transfer the kaya to a jam bottle. You can keep it in the fridge for about a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi, I tried this recipe but have a question, once I added the caramel to the egg mixture, it seemed to get very lumpy or maybe the egg curdled. Is this suppose to happen? From your video, your mixture doesn’t look smooth and a bit lumpy, I assume once you put it in the blender, it will smooth out. Is this how it’s suppose to be? Thanks so much!
Hi Trish. Yes, kaya tends to be lumpy through the cooking process. Once it is blended, it will be much smoother.
Thank you! I made it again and this time it turned out perfect!! It is so tasty and so much better than store bought. Thank you for sharing this easy recipe!
Hi Trish. Thank you for your comment. So glad you were able to make it better the second time. Yay!
Okay, I live in the us and pandan leaves are t readily available, I do have pandan essence would it work if I just added a bit of pandemic essence instead of knotted pandan leaves?
Hi Gabe. Pandan leaves are usually found in the frozen section of most Asian markets. But yes, in a pinch you can use a tiny bit of pandan essence. However, it is not quite the same as using the actual leaves.
If I like my kaya green, do I skip the caramel? Or this is a mandatory step?
You will need to switch making it with pandan leaves instead of caramel, but the process will be a bit different.
How to store the Kaya?
In the fridge.
Thanks for the recipe. It really reduce the cooking time. I had reduce sugar to 150gm and it taste great, for me.
Nice!
I prefer not to use thickening agent like corn flour; so maybe I will reduce the amount of coconut milk. Will that affect the taste n texture of the final product? Thank you
Yes you can use less coconut milk or cook longer.
Love this recipe . Thank you. I have tried other recipes previously but my son says this is the best . Many thank for sharing your delicious recipes
Thank you!?