Kaya toast
Photo: Bahnfrend · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Kaya toast is the breakfast of the Hainanese kopitiam. Hainanese cooks who had worked in British kitchens and on ships opened coffee shops across the peninsula and served toast with kaya, a jam of coconut milk, eggs, sugar and pandan cooked slowly until thick. The set comes with two soft-boiled eggs cracked into a saucer and seasoned with soy and white pepper, and a cup of thick coffee roasted with sugar and margarine. In Kuala Lumpur, Ah Weng Koh has poured Hainanese coffee with kaya butter toast since 1964 and moved with the old market into ICC Pudu, while Ho Kow in Chinatown, open since 1956, keeps the style going.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 1 jarHands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 15 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 150g sugar
  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 3 pandan leaves, knotted
  • Pinch of salt
  • Sliced white bread
  • Cold salted butter

Method

  1. Whisk the eggs and sugar until the sugar dissolves, then whisk in the coconut milk and salt and strain.
  2. Pour into a heatproof bowl with the pandan and set it over a pan of barely simmering water.
  3. Stir constantly for 35 to 45 minutes until the custard thickens to a spreadable jam; remove the pandan and cool.
  4. Toast the bread until crisp, trim the crusts and split each slice horizontally if you like it thin.
  5. Spread with kaya, add a cold slab of butter, sandwich and serve with soft-boiled eggs and coffee.

Tip from the editors. Keep the water under a simmer and never stop stirring, or the eggs scramble; a quick blend rescues small lumps.

Where to eat kaya toast

Kaya toast in Kuala Lumpur

Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea & Coffee ★ 4.1

$ HainanesePudu

Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea & Coffee inside ICC Pudu in Kuala Lumpur has poured Hainanese coffee and kaya toast since 1964, moved from the old market.

TryHainanese coffee with kaya butter toast

TipCome early, the kaya butter toast sells fastest in the first two hours after opening.

Directions

Ho Kow Hainam Kopitiam ★ 4.3

$ HainaneseChinatown

Ho Kow Hainam Kopitiam has poured cham and served kaya toast in Kuala Lumpur since 1956, now with a fourth-generation owner on Jalan Balai Polis in Chinatown.

DrinkCham, half coffee half tea

TipOrder the dried chicken curry with mee, mee hoon or kuey teow alongside the cham; it comes in generous chunks.

Directions

Old KL Kopitiam ★ 3.9

$ RM 6 to 15 per personKopitiamKaya toast and soft boiled eggs kopitiamMaluri

Old KL Kopitiam serves a heritage breakfast of kaya toast and soft boiled eggs in Maluri, Kuala Lumpur, a ten minute walk from the Maluri MRT.

OrderOrder the charcoal toast mini bun with soft boiled eggs and a mug of local coffee.

TipThe yam cake and salted lime drink are worth ordering alongside the toast set.

Directions

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