Pickle & Preserve

Quick Coconut Jam (Kaya)

by:
June  7, 2024
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Photo by Elvin Abril
  • Prep time 2 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • makes 1 small jar of kaya
Author Notes

Kaya is to Malaysia what peanut butter and jam is to America. It’s a deep, dark coconut jam, that has turned into our favorite breakfast condiment, slathered over toast, used to flavor desserts, and sometimes (if you’re feeling cheeky) eaten by the spoonful on its own.

Growing up in Malaysia, I was brought up with the knowledge that making kaya is a laborious affair that takes hours of slowly stirring and simmering coconut milk, sugar, and eggs over the stovetop to turn it thick and slick. It’s known to be a real labour of love made by chefs and homecooks across the region.

But recently I found out that you can kaya in 10 minutes! I first saw this technique from Marvellina from the What to Cook Today food blog, where she quickens the process with a few smart switchups. Instead of coconut milk she uses coconut cream, and in palace of the eggs she uses pure egg yolks. Both substitutions serve to reduce the liquid content of the kaya from the start, making it much quicker to cook and come to the right consistency. It sounds simple, but it is a game-changer!

Kaya purists might say that the technique isn't traditional or 'authentic', but if it can get me a luxuriously smooth and silky kaya, why not? In fact, I'm willing to bet, unless you're a kaya savant, if you tasted this you wouldn't be able to tell it's a 'cheat kaya'!
Jun

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Quick Coconut Jam (Kaya)
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (240 grams) unsweetened coconut cream (not milk!)
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) dark brown/palm sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt)
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 pandan leaves
Directions
  1. Put the coconut cream, granulated sugar, palm sugar, salt, and egg yolks in a small pot and stir together until smooth. Knot the pandan leaves and put it into the pot too.
  2. Heat the pot over medium flame for 10 minutes, stirring continuously. The kaya will thicken as it cooks, and you want it to get to the consistency of a thick jam or custard. As it cooks, be careful not to let the kaya boil. You can turn the heat down to low if you see signs of bubbles in the kaya. (You can usually tell from the amount of steam coming out of the liquid; you want gentle steam wisps not big puffs.)
  3. When done, let the kaya cool to room temperature before transferring to store in a jar. The kaya can last for up to 3 weeks in the fridge.

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