Singapore Stories
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A Singapore breakfast favorite [Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Notes: Find palm sugar, coconut cream, pandan leaves, and pandan flavoring, in your local Asian grocery store. If using pandan leaves, in step three, tie leaves in a knot and cook with coconut cream, and remove before adding egg yolks. Don't use coconut milk, as it will be too watery. I used a combination of clear pandan flavoring and green pandan paste because it was what I had on hand. Pandan bread is a popular bread to serve with this, but any bread will do.

About the author: Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Easy Artisan Bread. You can also watch her culinary stylings on the America's Test Kitchen television show. She presently lives in Singapore working on her new baking cookbook, and as a recipe developer for HungryGoWhere Singapore. Check out her blog, shophousecook.com, or follow her on Twitter @yvonneruperti.

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

Ingredients

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut cream, divided
  • 5 ounces palm sugar, grated or finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon clear pandan flavoring or green pandan paste, or 4 pandan leaves (see note above)
  • Toast, soft boiled eggs, and soy sauce to serve with (see note above)

Procedures

  1. In medium bowl, whisk yolks with 1/4 cup coconut cream; set aside.

  2. In medium saucepan, heat palm sugar over medium-low heat until melted. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has caramelized to a deep golden brown, 3 to 6 minutes.

  3. Carefully whisk in remaining 1 1/4 cups coconut cream. Heat mixture, stirring until smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened slightly (foaming will have subsided and large, slow bubbles will form at the surface), about 8 minutes.

  4. Remove from heat and whisk half of mixture into yolk mixture. Return everything to saucepan and gently heat over medium low heat until mixture thickens to consistency of pudding. Strain into container and chill until cold and set, at least 4 hours.

  5. Serve with toasted bread, soft boiled eggs, and soy sauce.