Kaya Toast – Toast with Coconut Pandan Custard and Butter

Kaya is an egg custard made from eggs, sugar and coconut milk, which you stir with pandan leaves over a water bath until it is spreadable. In the kopitiams of Malaysia and Singapore, you get it on thinly toasted white bread with a slice of cold butter in the middle. Beside it sit two soft eggs, which you stir with soy sauce and white pepper and use to dunk the toast.

By Laura Chen· November 4, 2026

50 Mintotal

4servings

520kcal

MalaysianCuisine ›

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Kaya takes patience at the stove. Stir over too much heat and the egg curdles into lumps. Keep the water just below a boil and stir for 25 minutes. The custard keeps in a jar for a week in the fridge, so you make more than you need for one breakfast. Lower the eggs into boiling water, switch off the heat and take them out after 7 minutes.

Thai Sangkaya Bai Toey is steamed into a firm custard, while kaya stays a spread. With the toast, drink Kopi O or Teh Tarik.

Image: AI-generated.

Kaya Toast – Toast with Coconut Pandan Custard and Butter

Name: Kaya Toast – Toast with Coconut Pandan Custard and Butter
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 150 g sugar; 200 ml coconut milk; 4 pandan leaves, knotted, or 1/2 tsp pandan paste; 1 pinch of salt; 8 slices sandwich bread; 60 g cold butter, thinly sliced; 8 eggs, at room temperature; 4 tsp light soy sauce; 1/2 tsp white pepper

Laura Chen

Servings

Prep time

15 minutes

Cook time

35 minutes

Calories

520

Cuisine

Malaysian

Ingredients

For the kaya (one jar, 400 g):

4 eggs
150 g sugar
200 ml coconut milk
4 pandan leaves, knotted, or 1/2 tsp pandan paste
1 pinch of salt

For the toast:

8 slices sandwich bread
60 g cold butter, thinly sliced

For the eggs:

8 eggs, at room temperature
4 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper

Instructions

Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in a metal bowl until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the coconut milk and add the pandan leaves.
Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water. The bowl must not touch the water.
Whisk the mixture for 25 minutes, until it is as thick as pudding. Keep the water just below a boil.
Remove the pandan leaves. Blend the kaya smooth with an immersion blender and pour it into a clean jar. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Bring water to a boil in a pot, lower in the eggs and switch off the heat. Take the eggs out after 7 minutes.
Toast the bread until golden brown and cut off the crusts. Slice each piece in half horizontally into two thin slices.
Spread the inner sides with kaya, lay butter slices on one half and fold them closed. Cut the toasts into triangles.
Crack two eggs each into a cup, add soy sauce and pepper, and serve with the toast.

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Kaya Toast – Toast with Coconut Pandan Custard and Butter

Ingredients

For the kaya (one jar, 400 g):

For the toast:

For the eggs:

Instructions

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