Toast spread with kaya — a jam of coconut milk, eggs, sugar and pandan — and slabs of cold butter, with soft-boiled eggs and coffee.
What makes it kaya toast
Kaya: coconut milk, eggs and sugar stirred slowly until thick.
Toast — grilled, often over charcoal — with cold slabs of butter.
Soft-boiled eggs with soy and white pepper.
Strong coffee with condensed milk.
Where it comes from
The breakfast of the kopitiam, the old Chinese coffee shop, many of them run by Hainanese families. It's often said Hainanese cooks learned toast and custards working in British households and ships' kitchens, and made something of their own from it.
Kaya comes in two colours: green Nyonya kaya, heavy with pandan, and brown Hainanese kaya, made with caramelised sugar. Either way, it comes with two barely set eggs to crack into a saucer with soy and white pepper.