Pandan Kaya (Coconut Jam)

I had been wanting to make my own kaya for so long but the cooking and stirring time always put me off. I can't really find a good kaya in the asian supermarket here, they are either too sweet or lack of ''fragrant'' (one should know what I mean if you are a kaya lover). I am glad I found this easy kaya recipe while reading Sonia's blog. She used the double boiling method instead of cooking it in the pot from low heat. There is no long standing, cooking and stirring, you just need to give it a light stir about every 5 minutes until you get the desired thickness. Well, no long standing or cooking means you do not need to stand in front of the hob to keep stirring it for 2 hours to avoid any lumps and burn, however, you do need about an hour to get to the desired thickness. Since you only need to stir it for about  every 5 minutes, you spare some time to do other tasks e.g. to wash dishes, cutting or chopping vege, preparing meal, etc. I like this method, it is easy and still produce a smooth and tasty kaya. You can spread it on toast or as a filling for cake or bun or pau etc, I prefer it on toast with butter. Ops, I should have taken a picture of how I make my kaya on toast!

See what I have got here...

Pandan Kaya (Coconut Jam)
Recipe adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
250g sugar
350ml coconut milk
4 pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)

Steps:
1) Pandan Juice:- Cut pandan leaves into small pieces. Put it into blender with coconut milk, blend well. Strain and discard pulp.
2) In a mixing bowl, put in eggs and lightly beat with a fork. Add in sugar, lightly stir till sugar dissolves.
3) Add Step 1) into 2). Mix well and strain the mixture into a stainless steel mixing bowl.
4) Fill a pot with about 1/3 water, bring it to a boil then turn to low heat. Place the mixing bowl into the bowl of boiling water (see here), stir kaya mixture once every 5 minutes (roughly)
5) Continue to cook it until the desired thickness achieved. Remove the mixture from hob and leave it to cool. That's it, kaya is done!
6) Store the cooled kaya into container and keep it in the fridge.

*Notes:
-Strain the mixture to prevent any lumps and to produce a smoother mixture.
- Stainless steel or high heat resistant bowl is preferable as you need to cook the mixture over boiling water for some time until the desired thickness of kaya achieved.
- The shelf life of kaya varies on the weather and humidity. I store them in 2 small jar, one keep in the fridge and the other at room temperature. I finished the room temperature kaya in a week and it was still good when I finished it. The kaya in the fridge can be kept for ~2weeks. It is recommended not to make the kaya in bulk and finish it as earlier as possible to enjoy its freshness and fragrance.