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The Quest for Kaya

13/3/2012

17 Comments

 
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Kaya jam on toast is a popular breakfast dish in South East Asia (Image: Trissalicious.com)
There are some things you eat that get stored away in a very special part of your brain. It's the part that lies dormant until an extremely inconvenient moment  (usually when you are snowed under at work, or in church, or having your nails done) basically a moment when feeding yourself isn't something you can easily accomplish and you are left silently salivating and incredibly distracted.

For me that moment came - as it often does - on an extremely busy Thursday afternoon. In the midst of thoughts about press releases, corporate bios, Q&A documents and presentations that needed to be put to bed before the end of the working week, there popped up the memory of two dainty, flower-embossed sponge cakes I'd eaten almost five years ago in Malaysia. The memory of the cakes wasn't as distracting as the memory of their yummy filling - the incredibly addictive kaya jam.

Kaya is a South East Asian creation and I'm not going to get all politically correct and start debating who actually invented it. Let's just say it's incredibly popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and there are versions of it that have a firm following in Thailand and the Phillippines. The word kaya means 'rich' in Malay and anyone who has eaten it will know it's a fair description of this thick, sweet coconut jam.

Kaya is actually less jam and more a coconut custard or curd, as it has an egg base which gives it a rich, smooth texture. It's generally flavoured with pandan leaves or pandan paste and can vary from a caramelized golden colour to a bright leaf green. The version I ate was the colour and texture of dulce de leche and equally- if not more - delicious.

I discovered it at the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Langkawi, plopped alongside more commonly encountered jams and preserves. The sponge cakes sandwiched with kaya filling came later - at a restaurant also in Langkawi - and they rank among my most vivid food memories from Malaysia. 
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Heavenly food in a heavenly place - what I was looking at the first time I tasted kaya jam
So with the image of the cakes now firmly stuck in my mind and the taste of the
jam on my lips, (and armed with a recipe as well as the name of an Asian grocery store in Al Barsha - the weird and wonderful 1004 Mart) I set off to try and find kaya in Dubai... or if push came to shove, make some.

Sadly my quest was rather short-lived. The store did not stock kaya nor did it sell pandan paste or pandan leaves for me to attempt a home-made version. (To be fair, 1004 Mart specialises almost entirely in Korean food and not Malay or Indonesian). 

And as it was an incredibly busy weekend and the  days since have been equally manic, my quest could not take in any more Asian specialty stores and my longing to eat kaya remains unsatisfied.

I've heard Spinney's sells pandan leaves so I may take a stab at making some coconuty-egg jam at some point. 

But if any fellow kaya fans in Dubai read this post and feel like saving me the trouble, please let me know the nearest place I can pick up a bottle... I'd be ever so grateful :)
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Ya Kun Kaya - one of the most famous commercial kaya brands. Anyone know where I can find it in Dubai?
17 Comments
Rana link
13/3/2012 01:54:29 am

it's all over the place here and we have it for breakfast with toast quite often! will bring u some from the bakery next door when I visit Dubai :-) P.S. I'm obsessed with everything Pandan these days as well!!!

Reply
Radhina
13/3/2012 03:25:57 pm

I've found a Singaporean restaurant one street up from me in Barsha and it's yummy, especially their pandan flavoured rice and mango pudding :)

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Reesha link
14/3/2012 01:56:46 am

Which Singaporean restaurant is this? And I have seen pandan leaves in Lulu too. We should go for the all you can eat dimsum at the Radisson in deira, we might find some there.

Adam
13/3/2012 10:16:46 am

I might be in Dubai for work next week. If I am I'll drop off a couple of jars of Kaya toast for you. No wait...if I don't, then you have an incentive to come to SIngapore ;P

Reply
Radhina
13/3/2012 03:27:40 pm

Don't need any more incentives Adam, just leave :) (I'll be exercising for a looooong time after my Singapore trip to work off all the extra pounds I imagine...)

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Didi link
13/3/2012 02:45:49 pm

I haven't seen any just yet. But you can try looking for white coco jam in the Philippine food section. It tastes very similar to Kaya jam without the green pandan color. I'm guessing it will be more accessible vs the Singaporean version.

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Radhina
13/3/2012 03:28:20 pm

Thanks Didi. Will keep an eye out for it :)

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lara link
13/3/2012 09:17:45 pm

How interesting.. it looks delich.. and so great to learn about new things from different cultures,,Lara

Radhina
14/3/2012 04:15:42 pm

The Singaporean restaurant in Al Barsha is Chimes. It's delicious!

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Didi link
19/3/2012 04:12:04 am

I live next door to Chimes ;p

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Natalie link
15/3/2012 03:48:20 pm

I love Kaya! If you're adventurous enough, you can make it. My mom makes her own but it takes a few good hours on low heat. I decided to try making it on high heat - cos I'm miss impatient thinking it would turn out the same - we enjoyed pandan flavoured scrambled egg instead! HAHA! I'm on the hunt for it here as well!!

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Radhina
15/3/2012 05:11:14 pm

Let me know if you find any and I'll do the same :)

Reply
Platetrotter
17/11/2013 09:17:08 pm

Hi, Yakun Kaya has opened in Dubai at Ibn Battatu Mall, China Court. The quest is finally over! :)

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Nancy link
18/5/2015 04:25:21 am

Have you tried Merlion in JLT? If they don't serve it, they must know where you can find a jar or 3.

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Platetrotter link
18/5/2015 05:42:26 pm

No, had never heard of them before. Will have to go check it out :)

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Amira
20/4/2017 07:14:00 am

Any news? I am also on the quest for kaya! I'm a Singaporean living in Dubai for almost 9 months and I haven't found any kaya spread! In dire need - help!

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take my online course link
3/5/2018 12:14:23 am

Your blog offers me a lot of interesting information about new and unusual dishes for me, which have a very original taste.

Reply



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