Kaya Toast (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam) Recipe by Chef Kyo Pang
The rich kaya jam is made with fresh pandan, coconut milk, palm sugar, and several eggs. This variation's milk bread slices come with half-boiled eggs seasoned with soy for dipping. It was inspired by Kyo Pang, the proprietor and executive chef of New York City's Kopitiam.
- 10 eggs (large eggs, at room temperature)
- 13.5 ounces coconut milk (unsweetened)
- 6 pandan leaves (fresh pandan leaves or 1¾ teaspoons pandan extract)
- 300 grams palm sugar (or 1¼ cups/225 grams granulated sugar)
- 4 eggs (large eggs, at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
- 4 milk bread (crusts cut off)
- 1.5 tablespoon salted butter (cold, thinly sliced)
Beat eggs in a sizable metal basin to make the kaya jam. Blend half of the coconut milk with the fresh pandan in a blender until the mixture is fragrant and pale green in color. Using a fine-mesh strainer, pour the pandan milk into the basin containing the eggs. Leaf liquid can be extracted using the back of a spoon; discard the leaf material. Clean out the blender.
Palm sugar and the remaining half of the coconut milk should be smoothly blended. Pour right into the pandan egg mixture, then whisk to combine completely. Blender should be left untouched.
2 inches of water should be in the bottom of a big pot. bring to a simmer over medium heat. To construct a double boiler, place the bowl on top of the pot. Slowly and often whisk the kaya mixture in figure-eight motions until it thickens to the consistency of pudding, about 20 minutes (the water shouldn't touch the bottom of the bowl). Reduce the heat if you hear bubbling in the saucepan or notice the kaya starting to clump.
The cooked kaya should be blended to break up any clumps. Around 312 cups should be consumed. Refrigerate for up to 30 days in an airtight container. When cold, it will thicken even more.
To prepare the toast, put some water in a small pot, cover it, and heat it up to a boil. When the water is boiling, add the eggs gently, cover, and turn off the heat right away. Eggs should be left alone for six minutes. Eggs should be strained, then ran under cold water until they are safe to handle. Each egg should be cracked, peeled on one end, and the egg carefully removed by running a spoon along the interior of the shell. The eggs should be split between two little basins. Sprinkle with pepper, if desired, then drizzle with soy sauce.
Over the heated slices of toast, put roughly 2 teaspoons of kaya jam. Sandwich the remaining 2 pieces with the evenly spaced slices of cold salted butter. To avoid pushing too hard, slice each sandwich in half with the point of the knife. Serve with the bowls of scrambled eggs for dipping.
Fresh pandan is typically available in Asian grocers with a greater selection of food from Southeast Asia, however pandan extract can be substituted and is readily available online. Bakeries throughout Asia offer milk bread. It also works with other slices of thick white sandwich bread.