Roti John is a popular dish found within Southeast Asia, a dish that apparently originated from Singapore. ‘Roti’ means bread, and ‘John’ seems to be a name given by the British colonialists to the native vendors back then. Baguettes are used as the key ingredient to make this bread dish, sliced into half loaves, dipped in an egg mixture and then cooked with onion and meat, either beef or chicken as it is served mainly by Muslim vendors. It can serve as a side dish, or as a filling meal in itself.
The boy is growing up very fast, so his taste buds are quickly changing as well. Just a couple of months ago, he was still having to tip toe and stretch out his fingers to reach the light switches in the house. Nowadays, he only has to stretch out his hands halfway to turn on these switches. His shoes were suddenly becoming too small for him and we have had to buy new pairs for him. But the doctor is still telling us he is not gaining enough weight, at a pathetic 16kg which is only at the tenth percentile of other kids his age. Sigh.
So I recently made a purchase from Cold Storage to deliver a whole bunch of snacks home – Famous Amos cookie packs, breakfast cereal packs, panda cookies – all for him. He was so happy so I guess it kills two birds at the same time. Let’s see if this helps to pack in a few more kilos in him.
Meal-wise, I’m just hoping he can continue to eat whatever I cook without being too picky. Hopefully he can grow up to experience all the different cuisines and cultures that come along with each meal while I continue to experiment at home every weekend.
Ingredients:
- Chilli sauce: 50ml
- Ketchup: 50ml
- Salt: to taste + 1/4 tsp
- Egg: 4
- Sambal chilli: 2 tbsp
- Onion: 1, small, finely chopped
- Minced chicken: 200g
- Green chilli (optional) 2, deseeded and sliced
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Baguette: 1, long, sliced into 2 halves and each half sliced lengthwise leaving 1cm to fold into a burger
- Cheese slice (optional): 4
Method:
- Combine chilli sauce, ketchup and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil to thicken, then switch heat off. Set aside.
- Beat eggs with sambal chilli, onions, minced chicken and 1/4 tsp salt.
- Add green chilli to mixture. Set aside.
- Heat oil in wok.
- Ladle half of egg mixture into pan. Place one halved baguette down onto mixture. Press down and leave to cook for 2min.
- Fold excess omelette into bread using spatula. Then fold bread halves to form a burger.
- Place 2 cheese slices into bread. Press down on it with spatula to cook for 30sec.
- Flip burger to the other side. Press down on it with spatula to cook for another 30sec.
- Remove and repeat with the other half of the loaf.
- Serve hot with spicy dipping sauce.
Disclaimer:
-
As the boy doesn’t eat spicy stuff, I had to prepare another loaf of non-spicy, non-onion version so that he has no excuses to skip his lunch today.
Serving:
2 servings (2 halves from 1 loaf)
