Coconut jam, also known as kaya jam or simply kaya, is a sweet

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

made from a base of

coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food i ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

and sugar. It is popular throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

The word for coconut jam in the

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...

, kaya, means rich, referencing the texture of the popular food. For Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans, kaya, also called srikaya (coconut egg jam), is a sweet creamy coconut spread made from

(locally known as santan) and

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

or chicken

(which are flavored with

pandan leaf ''Pandanus amaryllifolius'' is a tropical plant in the ''Pandanus'' (screwpine) genus, which is commonly known as pandan (; ). It has fragrant leaves which are used widely for flavouring in the cuisines of Southeast Asia and South Asia. Occurre ...

and sweetened with sugar). The resulting color varies depending on the color of the egg yolks, the amount of pandan, and the extent of the

caramelization Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and c ...

of the sugar. As a popular local spread, kaya is typically spread on

toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...

to make

kaya toast Kaya toast is a dish consisting of two slices of toast with butter and kaya (coconut jam), commonly served alongside coffee and soft-boiled eggs. In Singapore, the dish is commonly consumed for breakfast. It became integrated into kopi tiam (c ...

and eaten in the morning, but is also enjoyed throughout the day. Kaya can be found in most

kopitiam A ''kopitiam'' or ''kopi tiam'' () is a type of coffee shop mostly found in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Thailand patronised for meals and beverages, and traditionally operated by the Chinese community of t ...

and night markets. Different varieties available include the

nyonya The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, t ...

kaya, which is of a lighter-green color, and Hainanese kaya, which is of a darker brown and uses caramelized sugar, and is often further sweetened with honey. In Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, kaya is also used as a topping for several desserts including '' pulut taitai'' or ''pulut tekan'', a dessert of sweet

glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

colored blue with butterfly pea flowers (''bunga telang''), and ''pulut seri muka'', a similar dessert but colored green due to adding pandan leaves. It is also used with

to make ''

kuih ''Kuih'' ( Indonesian: '' kue''; derived from the Hokkien and Teochew ''kueh'' – ) are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called ca ...

seri kaya''.

Philippines

Philippine coconut jam is known as matamís sa báo (also matamís na báo or minatamís na báo, among other names). The names literally mean "sweetened coconut". It is different from other Southeast Asian versions in that it uses

coconut cream Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food i ...

(''kakang gata'', the first and second press of grated coconut meat) and cane sugar extract or

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

(treacle). It also does not use eggs and thus is more like

syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

rather than

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

. It is often eaten on toast or

pandesal Pandesal ( es, pan de sal, salt bread, lit. "salt bread") is a staple bread roll in the Philippines commonly eaten for breakfast. It is made of flour, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt. Description ''Pandesal'' is a popular yeast-raised bread in the ...

or used as a filling for

pan de coco Pan de coco, literally "coconut bread" in Spanish, is a Filipino rich sweet roll that uses sweetened shredded coconut meat (''bukayo'') as filling. See also * Asado roll *Pandesal *Pan de monja Monay, also known as pan de monja, is a dens ...

. When it is mixed with ground glutinous rice paste, it becomes a popular dessert known as

kalamay ''Kalamay'' (also spelled ''Calamay'', literally "sugar"), is a sticky sweet delicacy that is popular in many regions of the Philippines. It is made of coconut milk, brown sugar, and ground glutinous rice. It can also be flavored with margarine ...

. A less viscous version made with

(''gata'') is known as ''

latik ''Latík'' () refers to two different coconut-based ingredients in Filipino cuisine Filipino cuisine ( fil, lutong Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found thr ...

'' (anglicized as "coconut caramel"), and is used in place of

in numerous native Filipino desserts.

Thailand

The kaya of Thailand is called sangkhaya ( th, สังขยา, ) in Thai. There are two major types of kaya eaten in Thailand. One type is more liquid than the other, while the less thick kaya is similar to what is eaten in Malaysia and Indonesia. People either spread it on steamed or toasted bread or dip the bread into kaya. This kind of kaya is commonly sold by street vendors but has recently been brought into tea and coffee shops. Another type is a concoction that has a less sticky and more custard-like texture. It is sometimes called "coconut custard" in English and is used to make '' sangkhaya fakthong'' (, ; ''sangkhaya maryu'' in Lao), sangkhaya

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

or custard pumpkin, ''

khao niao sangkhaya ''Khao niao sangkhaya'' ( th, ข้าวเหนียวสังขยา, ) or sticky rice with custard, is a traditional Thai dessert. It is prepared with glutinous rice (commonly known as sticky rice), topped with coconut custard and co ...

'' (, ),

topped with sangkhaya, and ''sangkhaya maphrao'' (, ), sangkhaya served in a coconut.

References

External links

Famous Thai Dishes
including photos of Thai ''sangkhaya'' desserts
Not your usual kaya
with three recipes made with palm sugar, pumpkin and taro {{Thai cuisine Jams and jellies Bruneian cuisine Indonesian cuisine Malaysian cuisine Philippine cuisine Singaporean cuisine Thai cuisine Malay cuisine Foods containing coconut Custard desserts Dips (food)