' ("grilled bread" in Indonesian and Malay), also known as roti kahwin, is a type of toast bread in maritime Southeast Asia, usually prepared with grilled

white bread White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. Nutrition Wh ...

. The dish is a popular breakfast food as well as tea time snack in countries like

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. was formerly grilled or toasted over

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

, though this practice has dwindled with the advent of sandwich presses. Common spreads for include

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

, chocolate spread and kaya.

Variants

Indonesia

In Indonesia, is usually prepared as a sandwich of grilled white bread with a filling, consumed both as a light breakfast and a common street food. was developed during the era of Dutch colonial rule as a practical way to consume day-old bread; it was typically served with

condensed milk Condensed milk is Milk#Cow, cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of sweetened condensed milk, to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed m ...

, or Dutch cheeses. After

Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...

, became ubiquitous throughout Indonesia, as consumption of toast became a matter of taste rather than frugality. Roti bakar

Many flavors have been developed for modern tastes, such as , crushed

Oreo Oreo (; stylized in all caps) is an American brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits with a sweet fondant filling. Oreos were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco, and the brand has been owned by Mondelez International since its me ...

biscuits, or chocolate syrup.

Malaysia and Singapore

In Malaysia, coconut jam and cold butter are a popular combination to spread on . This may be the inspiration for the Singaporean

kaya toast Kaya toast is a dish consisting of two slices of Toast (food), toast with butter and kaya (jam), kaya (coconut jam), commonly served alongside Kopi (drink), kopi and soft-boiled eggs. The dish was believed to be created by Hainanese immigrants to ...

which was created by Hainanese immigrants. The city of

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

is known for its kopitiam establishments, where accompanied with local tea or coffee beverages and a serving of half boiled eggs is a staple order during morning or afternoon tea. A variation on is , a thick warm toast with kaya spread onto all four corners and topped with a half-boiled egg.

References

{{Street food Bruneian cuisine Indonesian breads Indonesian fusion cuisine Malaysian breads Malaysian cuisine Singaporean cuisine Street food in Indonesia Roti

Variants

Indonesia

Malaysia and Singapore

See also

References