Roti John
● SingaporeRoti John was invented in Singapore in the 1960s, in a hawker stall whose location is much disputed, Sembawang, Beach Road, and Jalan Besar all stake claims. The most repeated origin story involves a British or Australian serviceman based at one of Singapore's military bases asking a Malay or Indian-Muslim hawker for "a hamburger," and the hawker, having no minced beef patties, improvising with ground mutton, onion, egg, and chili pressed into a split French loaf. "Roti John", "John's bread," John being a generic name for a Westerner, stuck. By the 1970s, the dish had spread through Singapore's mamak (Indian-Muslim) stalls and across the causeway into Malaysia, where it was adopted with equal enthusiasm. Today Roti John is a fixture of the late-night hawker circuit in Singapore, particularly at the Geylang Serai market and the night stalls at Adam Road. The dish is a perfect microcosm of Singapore: British bread, Indian spices, Malay technique, served to a multicultural crowd at midnight.
Roti John is supper food. It is what you order at a mamak stall after the cinema, after a club, after a long shift. The Geylang Serai bazaar during Ramadan is the dish's spiritual epicenter, with vendors lined up frying dozens of Roti Johns simultaneously for crowds breaking fast. The classic preparation is theater: a baguette is split, dipped face-down into an egg-and-onion-and-mince mixture, then pressed onto a hot griddle until the egg sets and the bread crisps. A drizzle of red chili sauce and a smear of mayonnaise complete the dish. Singaporean opinions about the best Roti John are passionate and irreconcilable, with old-timers swearing by Sembawang's Mubarak stall and younger eaters favoring the modern interpretations at Adam Road and Maxwell food centres.
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Ingredients
- Half a long French baguette, split lengthwise
- 250g minced lamb or beef
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 green chilies, chopped
- Curry powder, salt
- Chili sauce and mayonnaise to finish
Method
- Mix beaten eggs with minced meat, chopped onion, chilies, curry powder and salt in a bowl
- Heat a flat griddle with oil, then pour the mixture out into a long oval shape
- Press the cut side of the baguette down onto the egg mixture and let it cook for 2 minutes
- Flip the whole thing over so the bread is on the bottom and the egg crust faces up; cook another minute
- Drizzle with chili sauce and mayonnaise, fold the bread closed, and slice into portions