Coffee Oatmeal Chia Pudding with Kaya

Part of the reason I’d chosen to only mention the Coffee Oatmeal Pudding in passing was that it is slightly – no, entirely – unphotogenic.

You see, it looks like this:

I tried to think of ways to make it prettier for the blog. Desiccated coconut on top? No, that might look like dandruff. Molasses drizzled over in a spiderweb fashion? No. This recipe certainly doesn’t need more brown.

And then it hit me. The perfect topping for this bowl of wonderment. A topping which had been given to me by my friend Helen of Grab Your Fork fame.

In case you can’t remember back far enough, a few months ago I had dinner at My’s Vietnamese with Helen, and she gave me the most magnificent goodie bag designed to both fit with and expand my culinary horizons. In this bag was (drum roll please) kaya. Kaya, that pandan coconut custard jam-like condiment that I’d heard so much about on the blogosphere.

Helen and I had talked about how kaya’s proper application is between two pieces of toast with thick slabs of butter, but I’d forewarned her that I’d most likely be using it on oatmeal.

Ta-daa! To be honest, I’d been so dedicated to hoarding the kaya (that way, I’d have it forever) that I had refused to open it until this day.

My Coffee Oatmeal Chia Pudding, however, proved just the incentive I needed to finally crack open the jar.

Oh my. I’m actually not the biggest fan of coconut, but this kaya thing is amazing. I think it’s the pandan that I’m in love with, as there’s an ambrosial, vanilla-like-but-more-fragrant-than-vanilla subtle sweetness to kaya that I not only haven’t tasted before but now can’t get enough of.

More to the point, the kaya’s green colour sets off the Coffee Oatmeal Chia Pudding aesthetically while its unctuous, rich, coconut pandan sweetness sings in harmony with the pudding’s creamy coffee flavour.

So I decided I had to give you the recipe, for real this time.

Coffee Oatmeal Pudding with [optional] Kaya

Serves 1. And is all good-for-you ‘n’ stuff. Woot.

• 1/3 cup rolled oats (I’m currently using Macro’s 5-Grain Porridge which, from memory, is rolled oats, spelt, triticale, rice, and barley or rye)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tb (15ml) chia seeds
• 1 – 2 tsps instant coffee (or a shot of espresso, if you’re classier than I am)
• generous dash/es of ground cinnamon and/or cardamom
• sugar to taste
• kaya to taste (optional, and not vegan. Other garnishes I’m planning to use once my kaya runs out are peanut butter, almond butter, tahini, maple syrup, chocolate, honey, black sesame seeds, raspberry jam, and tapenade. Okay, the last one was a lie.)

1. In a small saucepan, combine the oats, soy milk, water, chia seeds, coffee, and spices over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the sugar, then pour into your serving bowl. You could, of course, eat the oatmeal now, but I prefer to put it in the fridge to cool so that the chia seeds work their magic and turn the oatmeal into what I call oatmeal pudding. Then whenever you can’t resist the siren call of oats and sugar and coffee and creaminess any longer (what, don’t oats try to seduce you on a regular basis?), pull the bowl out of the fridge and put a heaping spoonful or drizzle of your garnishes on top.
3. Say it with me now: om nom nom.

Tagged as: chia, coffee, dairy-free, gluten-free, oatmeal, recipe, soy milk, vegan option