Kaya Toast

Kaya toast is toasted bread spread with butter and kaya, a jam of coconut milk, egg and sugar, eaten as breakfast in Singapore and Malaysia.

Kaya toast is a breakfast staple of the coffee shops in Singapore, where it is served with eggs and a hot drink early in the morning. Malaysia eats the same breakfast, and both countries share the dish, so its exact origin is not settled.

What it really is

Two slices of white bread are toasted, often over charcoal, then spread with butter and kaya and pressed together as a sandwich. Kaya is a thick, sweet spread made by cooking coconut milk, eggs and sugar slowly until it sets. It is often flavoured with pandan leaf, which turns it green.

Kaya toast has no meat or fish in it. The breakfast set around it is the toast, two soft-boiled eggs seasoned with dark soy sauce and white pepper, and a cup of coffee or tea. Guests eat the eggs with a spoon from a small dish and dip the toast into them.

How it's served

• Warm, with the butter just melted into the toast.
• Cut into halves or squares, with the kaya spread to the edges.
• With two soft-boiled eggs in a small dish, seasoned with soy sauce and white pepper.
• With kopi (coffee) or teh (tea), either sweet and milky or plain.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the bread and the jam: white toast and kaya made from coconut milk, egg and sugar.
• Flag wheat in the bread, eggs in the kaya and in the eggs served with it, and milk in the butter.
• Name coconut in the kaya, since some guests avoid it.
• Say whether the kaya is made in-house or bought in, since sweetness and colour vary between makers.
• State how the eggs come, soft-boiled, and whether a drink is included.