For aeons I’d been wanting to make kaya again. The last time I made it was a few years ago. I’d been putting it off as the thought of stirring the kaya at the stove until my hands ache is a sufficient damper. Then out of the blue, I got hit by kaya craving on Monday.
I bought the necessary ingredients but before I got down to work, I decided to surf the internet for recipes. I already have my MIL’s recipe – 10 eggs, 1 kati sugar and santan from 1 coconut but I wanted to try something different. MIL’s method is to stand at the stove and stir the mixture in a double boiler until it thickens. This will take about an hour. My short-cut is to stir for 20-30 minutes until it thickens slightly, then transfer the mixture into an enamel container and cook it in a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes. Unfortunately now I don’t have any enamel or metal container that will fit into my pressure cooker. I need an alternative method.
Luckily I stumbled on Lazy Chef’s blog. She suggested using a bread-making machine. She used a Kenwood which has a jam-making function. Though I’ve had my Kenwood for a few years, I’ve never tried making jam with it as I couldn’t find pectin in the shops.
All I had to do was to dump in the ingredients, turn on the machine and voila! An hour later, the kaya was ready without me lifting a finger to stir it. Thank you, Lazy Chef, you’ve really made my day! Here’s the recipe, slightly modified.
1 bowl fine sugar
1 bowl eggs (about 3-4 medium eggs, sieved to get rid of lumps)
1 bowl santan (from 1 coconut)
4 pandan leaves tied and knotted
Dump all the ingredients into breadmaker, turn to jam function and inhale aromatic flavour while the kaya cooks on its own. You have to scrape down the sides periodically or the mixture will get burned and there will be brown bits in the kaya later. Lazy Chef recommended blending the mixture to get the smooth texture like in commercial kaya. Personally I prefer the grainy, clumpy texture. It smacks of home-made. Besides, I’m lazier than Lazy Chef and don’t fancy rummaging in the cabinet for the blender, cleaning it, using it, washing it and storing it away.
Kaya anyone?
Note : Can anyone tell me how to take good food pix using an old Olympus camera?
Lydia, you really mustnt do this to me at 0604 london time! Now i crave for uncle lim’s toast and mentega and kaya. you are certainly very cruel. Oh by the way, boleh jadi kaya buat kaya tak? If can, i want to make some here. cant make money out of writing.
By: kak teh on April 11, 2007
at 1:05 pm
Lydia, my mom makes splendid kaya as well.. but it’s the same old method. stir until it thickens. i dun mind tho…it’s real yummy. heheh…;o)
By: spiffy on April 11, 2007
at 2:05 pm
Hi Lydia…
I’m glad you liked the kaya!
And yes, to take good food pictures, use the macro mode, the mode with the little flower icon. It allows you to take beautiful close shots of your food.
Hope it helps! Enjoy the kaya!
By: thelazychef on April 11, 2007
at 2:14 pm
My friend tried a kaya recipe using microwave oven last time. It worked and she shared some with me. So I got kaya!
By: alice on April 11, 2007
at 7:03 pm
Ayo, kaya raya! Here, in der Schweiz, you can buy pandan leaves apparently, but they’ve lost their fragrance on the flight over, so I’m not buying any.
My eldest sis used to have a short-cut method for making kaya. Some like it green, some like it golden brown. Lydia likes it a tad lumpy.
Y’all?
In the picture, it looks like a bit like sago! Mmm, I crave sago gula melaka, too, but no fragrant pandanus, so whattodo?
Also, if you’ve no macro mode on your camera, don’t go too near your subject so it doesn’t get out of focus. You can crop the picture later to get a closer sharp view.
By: Argus on April 11, 2007
at 7:51 pm
Kaya is a ‘must-have’ in my fridge. Will definitely try this one day. Looks simple enough.
Thanks to Lazy Chef too!
By: kingswife on April 11, 2007
at 10:01 pm
Wah! You can make kaya ah? There’s this woman who goes around selling kaya near my house, called Auntie Rosie. Now got Auntie Lydia kaya.
By: Xeus on April 11, 2007
at 10:15 pm
Hi Lydia, Kaya is probably the one thing I will smuggle through heathrow every year, then i hoard it and hoard it. I wonder if it works with tinned coconut milk, hmm. Just dreaming!
By: Msiagirl on April 12, 2007
at 1:18 am
Argus, i like mine smooth & golden brown..;o)
By: spiffy on April 12, 2007
at 8:41 am
Dear Lydia,
Thanks for Lazy Chef link. Boy, this girl can make desserts. I am inspired with her coconut mini pandan chiffon cake. I noticed that she steams her chiffon cake!
By: mrshbt on April 12, 2007
at 8:47 am
Kak Teh, that’s a great idea, selling kaya to Londoners! You should take it up, who knows you might just become rich with kaya.
spiffy, I can also make it brown – just add caramel lor, hehe.
lazychef, thanks for the tip!
Alice, haha, good to know you got kaya.
Argus, it does look a bit like sago
and it’s quite hard to spread but that’s the way aha aha I like it. Thanks for the photo tip. Do they sell pandan essence in bottles like they do here in Msia? That will give you the smell.
Kingswife, if you have a breadmaker with jam function, it’s really easy-peasy.
Xeus, really? I thought Aunty Rosie is Gardenia’s brand.
Msiagirl, I saw in lazychef’s blog that she used packet santan. So you could give the tinned santan a go.
mrshbt, I gotta go back there and curi some of her other ideas, hehe. If you like chiffon cake, you might want to check out Star online. Two days ago, they published some chiffon cake recipes.
By: lydiateh on April 12, 2007
at 10:39 am
Lydia…no need caramel. what my mum does is.. she cooked the santan and the eggs 1st.. then melt the sugar in another pan…after it’s all melted, just pour the sugar into the pot of santan and eggs while stirring continuously.. and voila! u have ur golden brown kaya. =D
By: spiffy on April 12, 2007
at 11:03 am
Stupid question from male: presumably bought version doesn’t taste half as good?
By: tunkuhalim on April 12, 2007
at 12:47 pm
yep TH, you are right..hahah..the ones that are bought in the shops doesn’t taste as nice.. ;o) unless well…they’re homemade..hehe
By: spiffy on April 12, 2007
at 3:36 pm
TH, whether the ‘bought version’ of kaya tastes as good or not depends on the quality of ingredients and how long it’s been sitting on the shelf. Of course, most folk who make it at home use the best eggs (organic if available) and freshly squeezed santan and freshly plucked pandan leaves. Poor sods like me will have to make do with ‘pandan essence’ (horrors, Lydia, some Singaporeans told me it is available here, but I feel queasy about buying it; can’t smell exactly like the real thing, I don’t believe) and Tetrapaks of coconut cream — although I do get giant-sized eggs laid by Swiss hens. Heh!
By: Argus on April 12, 2007
at 8:17 pm
This woman also named Auntie Rosie….hmmm, copyright violated.
By: Xeus on April 12, 2007
at 9:03 pm
Dear Lydia,
Can I get the link for Star online from you? I could not find the link from your page and when I googled, I found Star online but it did not give me info on pandan chiffon cake. Thanks in advance. By the way, I really enjoy the music on your page. Everytime I come in here, I feel calm.
By: mrshbt on April 13, 2007
at 3:43 am
spiffy, hehe, that’s what I meant by caramel…
Tunku Halim, home-made kaya is richer, tastier and more aromatic for sure.
Argus, mm, that’s an idea – using organic eggs. I’ve never tried that. Re the pandan essence, it’s not that bad you know. A friend uses it to make ping-peh mooncake and it smells great (though a bit artificial).
Mrshbt was just saying that American girls don’t have flat chest problem because of the milk they drink. Now you’re telling me Swiss hens lay bigger eggs. I’m beginning to think the West is really the Big Big West and we here are the Small Small East.
Xeus, I know, you’ve got legal issues on your mind of late, hehe.
mrshbt, here’s the link. Key in the recipe you want into the search box on the top right hand corner. Amy Beh is a good cook and her recipes are easy to follow.
http://kuali.com/
By: lydiateh on April 13, 2007
at 9:57 am
Lydia, hahah…paiseh-nya..proves that i dun really know my way in the kitchen. hehe.. ;o)
By: spiffy on April 13, 2007
at 12:12 pm
I haven’t eaten kaya in ages! Now you buat I crave it saje… Hmmm….
By: Kenny Mah on April 13, 2007
at 7:14 pm
spiffy, hear Kenny’s moaning? Perhaps you can ask good old mum to make a batch for him
By: lydiateh on April 14, 2007
at 11:59 am
Kaya, kaya! I want! Lydia, next time you can make Kaya and sell it instead of just writing and selling your writings. You might get kaya with that!:)
For the photo, you can just use macro mode. Depends on your camera, sometimes you can’t put your camera too close to the object. It just wouldn’t focus properly if you put it too close. Hope this helps. Trial and error should be a good practice for camera!:)
By: Kok on April 15, 2007
at 12:14 am
Kok, I might have to do thatlah. Can’t get kaya with books, must get kaya with kaya. The blurry pix is because I positioned the camera too close to the object.
By: Lydia Teh on April 15, 2007
at 4:09 pm
Mmmm, I haven’t thought about kaya in ages and now my mouth is watering – even though I’ve just had a huge lunch.
Re photo – if your camera is a digital one you can set it for close up pics by setting it on the symbol that looks like a flower.
By: Yang-May on April 16, 2007
at 8:03 pm
Ya lah, Lydia. The Swiss 63g eggs are so large that I’d half expect a baby ostrich or alligator to hatch out of ‘em. But they’re very expensive — like RM10 for 6 eggs (it’s like they grown into chickens already; it took me forever to get over the prices of things here, phew!). Imported ones are smaller and cheaper.
What do they feed Swiss hens lah? Swiss milk chocs for brown eggs and white chocs for white-shelled eggs?!
By: Argus on April 16, 2007
at 8:29 pm
Lydia..that wud not be a problem..in fact i can make a batch for u also, try my mum’s kaya. hehe..but then again, my mum wud most likely tell me to buat sendiri..she’ll jst prepare the ingredients for me. hahah..
Argus, ur cracking me up…Swiss milk chocs and white chocs for the hens. hahahha…aiyorr…
By: spiffy on April 17, 2007
at 9:10 am
Hi Lydia
oooh, tell me about kaya-making! I used to help my mom stir and stir and stir kaya some more in front of a hot stove. But you know, I found a great place for kaya in Taiping. Stumbled onto it actually. Was looking for popiah in Taiping one Sat afternoon and found this stall in the Taiping market which sells superb, fragrant, smooth as silk kaya! I can drive one hour from Pg to Taiping just for the roti bakar and kaya and mentega and the kopi O is magnificent. Can also buy the kaya from them, in small plastic containers for RM2 each. The stall is located near KFC Taiping, opposite a wantan mee shop.
By: Mayakirana on April 17, 2007
at 6:53 pm
Hi Lydia,
What a beautiful song, can you tell me what it is so I can buy the score. I have heard it before long long time ago but dont know the title. It is almost biblical!
thanks
By: June on April 20, 2007
at 10:33 pm
hi auntie.. was reading some of your old post and come across this.. you’re asking how to take good food pic with your olympus cam right?
well.. dont know whether u’ll still need the information but will just let u know though.. =)
from what i see frm the photo you’re capturing it from quite close up right? and sometime too close it’ll appear to be out of focus. Auntie could try using the macro mode for taking things close up. it’ll make the subject appear really sharp and in focus though it’s close up..
in case you dont know macro mode is the one with the flower icon.. hope this helps!
By: Elaine on April 24, 2009
at 8:42 pm
aiya~ after i post comment only then i saw other ppl already give u tips on taking photo up close.. and i’m so long-winded bout it.. hehe =P
By: Elaine on April 24, 2009
at 8:45 pm
Elaine, it’s okay, thanks for the refresher tip. I just noticed there were so many comments in 2007 that I didn’t reply to. Don’t remember reading them earlier either. Aiyo, so blur.
By: lydiateh on April 25, 2009
at 1:34 pm