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The short-cut version: Add water or milk and the pandan leaves in a pot and simmer until the leaves soften.
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Add the leaves and the simmered liquid in a blender, and blend.
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Pour the mixture in a pot and simmer until it reduces, strain, and squeeze to make a condensed extract (or you could simply use the simmered liquid).
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Combine the coconut jam, the pandan leaves extract, and egg yolks, stir the mixture well, and simmer for a while over low heat, stirring occasionally.
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It looks just like kaya jam.
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Note: When adding the egg yolks, you might want to strain them once to loosen them up and remove any stringy bits.
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The authentic version: Whisk the coconut milk, egg yolks, and sugar with a handheld electric mixer, and pour the mixture through a strainer.
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Add plenty of pandan leaves to the mixture, pour it into a pot and turn on the heat.
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Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat down to very low, simmer for a while, and continue stirring with a spatula to prevent it from forming any lumps.
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If you continue simmering over high heat, the yolks will harden and it will lose its creamy texture.
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So, simmer over low heat and gradually heat the mixture.
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This will take several minutes, but hang in there and continue stirring while simmering.
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Remove the pandan leaves after simmering.
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14
Most kaya jam recipes call for whole eggs, but it's easy to mess up.
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15
The jam becomes crumbly, turning out looking a whole lot different than the one's sold at stores.
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In my opinion, store-bought kaya jam uses only egg yolks (I even once checked the ingredients list, and powdered egg yolks was listed).
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I also find store-bought kaya jam to be too sweet, so I reduced the sweetness significantly to create this elegant jam.
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You can make a big batch of this jam and store it in the freezer.
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Sterilize the jar before pouring the jam in.
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The most popular way to enjoy this jam is to spread it on toast and top it with a tad of salted butter.
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If you make kaya jam with just coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaves, the jam will turn into a nice green color, and it will be aromatic, flavorful, and delicious!
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!
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Frozen pandan leaves are sold at Asian specialty stores.
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24
I purchased dried pandan leaves online.
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I found this store-bought kaya jam to be delicious, so it's the taste I tried recreating.
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26
The taste of the kaya jam differs depending on the manufacturer.
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This jam was good too.
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28
All the others weren't quite as good, and none of them suited my palate...
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Kaya jam is also called Sri Kaya jam.
