Roti John

01 / ABOUT THE DISH

About the dish

This classic street food item consists of a French loaf that is sliced lengthwise and generously doused with a mixture of lightly beaten eggs, minced meat, onions, and various combination of spices and vegetables. The bread is then fried top-down, until the topping sets and becomes crispy. The history of roti John is shrouded in mystery, but most agree that it was created by a hawker named Shukor in Singapore, sometime in the 1970s. From there it spread to other parts of Malaysian peninsula and has become a classic hawker dish that is always freshly prepared and served warm, typically sliced into smaller pieces. It is also believed that the dish was created to suit Western taste since the term John is universally used to denote Caucasians in Asia.