Nilmandra is an ethnic-Chinese Singaporean currently living in the UK. She runs a food blog called Soy and Pepper which documents her thoughts and experiments on cooking and bento. Her love of food and cooking developed from recreating food from home that she misses.

I was excited at the prospect of taking part and showcasing something special from Singapore. Then I had the problem of deciding what to submit as a breakfast entry to represent Singapore. As a multi-ethnic country, there is a huge variety of breakfast items that Singaporeans have for breakfast, ranging from dim sum and fried bee hoon to nasi lemak and roti prata.

I eventually settled on kaya toast for my entry. I like kaya toast for the blend of taste and influence that is is a fusion of western style toast with Southeast Asian taste. The toast is often served with one or two soft boiled eggs in a saucer, with dark soy sauce and white pepper added to taste. The toast is then dipped into the egg mixture and eaten, rather like boiled eggs and soldiers. Given that soy sauce and pepper are the namesakes of my website, how could I not go for this breakfast? And finally, I recently came back from from Singapore with a jar of the famed Ya Kun Kaya so I might as well dig in!

A typical Singaporean kaya toast breakfast consists of kaya toast, soft-boiled egg and a cup of tea - I like mine with fresh milk and a little sugar. It doesn’t look particularly impressive, especially compared with the other entries, but I think its origins, the specific way that it is cooked and put together and its nostalgic significance to many Singaporeans render it a worthy contender.

Kaya is an essential ingredient in this breakfast. It is a jam made from eggs, coconut milk, pandan (screwpine) leaves and sugar. Yup, I did mention that it is fusion. It tastes like a sweet egg custard. You can find a recipe for making kaya here.

Instead of the denser brown bread, white bread without crust is used for the toast in order to get that light crispy texture. Each thick slice is placed on a grill until slightly browned and crisp, and then sliced thinly in half horizontally. That takes skill (and a sharp knife), which was why I destroyed a couple of slices in the process! The toasted slices are then spread with kaya and then sandwiched with little pats of butter within. This is no diet food. The sweetness of the kaya and savoury butter go together surprisingly well. The toasted white bread complements the rich taste with a light and crunchy texture.

The soft boiled egg is also quite specific. Unlike the ones served in egg cups, the egg is only just set. Undercooked, according to my husband, who likes his soft boiled eggs overcooked (in my opinion). Add a few drops of dark or light soy sauce and a dash of white pepper, break up the golden yolk and mix it around a bit, and dip a piece of your sweet and savoury toast into the eggy goodness. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Our champion for the United States in the Global Breakfast Tournament is the lovely Pixie from the You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto blog. Pixie, who also has a sweet blog at A SweeTart, has been a guest blogger for The Gooseberry Fool once before, when she road-tested Nigella Lawson’s recipe for rhubarb tart. For this contest, Pixie actually went to the trouble of making bagels from scratch - needless to say, I’m very impressed!

My idea of a top breakfast involves a (preferably a New York) bagel with lox (smoked salmon), cream cheese, and a touch of lemon. When I lived in NY, I would have a bagel almost every day for breakfast on the way to work. You can find bagels practically on every block and in the morning I would crave a bagel with scrambled eggs, American cheese and a bit of ketchup. On the weekends it was usually lox with cream cheese. I don’t have bagels as much as I used to, which I guess is a good thing on my hips.

Finding the perfect bagel in England isn’t the easiest of tasks. We have tried bagels in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco … you name every popular Brit supermarket and we’ve had their bagels. Our favourite bagels in England, thus far, are sold at Brick Lane Beigel Bakery in London. Small in size, but with a sweet savoury taste. They don’t have any toppings and are plain, yet delicious. My favourite NY bagel would be an everything bagel and my favourite bagel shops are Astoria’s Bagel Shop & Deli and Murray’s Bagels in the Greenwich area.

There are a number of different spreads you could have with your bagel. One favourite used to be walnut and cream cheese. Then there’s vegetable cream cheese, strawberry cream cheese, cinnamon raisin cream cheese, scallion cream cheese … you get the drift. You also have your large list of choice of bagels; blueberry bagel, strawberry bagel, egg bagel, everything bagel, sesame seed bagel, poppy seed bagel … you name it they have it. And that’s the greatness about NY - always catering to their customer needs.

I set myself the challenge of making a NY bagel. It was high on my list of things to make and so I tried my best to search for a recipe which I felt would come closest to a NY bagel and found the following: Authentic New York-Style Homemade Bagel Recipe. Always read the comments when you choose a recipe online, they’re extremely helpful.

The one ingredient I found difficult to get hold of was malt syrup. You can substitute honey or molasses for the syrup but I really wanted to try the original recipe first. I eventually purchased malt syrup at a health shop in town. The recipe is quite easy to follow but I would recommend reading the comment about shaping the bagels. You want to divide the dough into eights and then form a small ball, press your thumb firmly down in the center and twirl the dough around your thumb. I think it’s also fine to just drain your bagels on your counter space and there’s no need for the extra baking sheets.

The bagels were far better than the supermarket ones and I really enjoyed making my own. However, the question is were they as good as a NY bagel? Maybe it’s psychological, I’m not sure, but for me, the answer is simply NO. Perhaps, it’s because you can’t beat walking the streets of NY and taking in the smell of freshly made bagels and viewing all your choices. Or maybe it’s the water used in making the bagels; yes, the water. I read several times online how the water from NY is the key ingredient to the success of a NY bagel.

Would I continue making bagels? Absolutely!!!! I will hunt and try all the possible recipes out there till I find my favourite bagel recipe, even if it will never quite be as good as a NY bagel.