Ok I'm sure you've heard this debate before - how did roti john get its name? Some say it is because European bread (baguette) is used and that they used to call Europeans by the common name of "John".  Others say that roti john predated the colonial era and when they came, the Europeans, many of them called John, loved it very much because it was like their beloved french toast.  And me? I'm just wondering why the hell the ang mohs called the toilet a "john"?

I digress.

My purpose here today is to reveal the secret step to making authentic roti john.  Roti john is like chinese fried rice - extremely varied in ingredients but involves only a few simple techniques.  But the difference is that many people seem to know the 'secret' behind good fried rice: use left-over rice from the day before so that the grains stay separable and dry.  Essentially, you don't want to end up with a gooey starchy mess (zi char stalls can defy this logic by using fresh rice because they have huge roaring fires not found in the common home).  But what about roti john?  How is it the indian stalls out there can do their johns in distinct layers? bread, followed by meat, then sometimes sauce, and then lastly a solid layer of egg?

To be sure, don't trust the multitude of recipes out there who do their roti johns a la french toast tyle (dipping bread into an egg-meat mixture and then pan frying), its not roti jean.  What I am about to reveal to you is the result of close observation of the indian stalls at Golden Mile Hawker Centre.

The roti john I attempted was extremely simple and downright healthy.  Using tuna flakes, sliced button mushrooms and moz cheese.  Darn, even the eggs were low cholesterol ones!

First step is to slice your baguttes into half-baguettes.  Cut them into half width wise and then slit them length wise (yes, just like how they do it at subway when you order a six-inch).  Then, prepare a hot pan (I used a pancake/crepe pan) with some oil or cooking spray over the highest heat.

Pan toasting your bread is an important step.  This ensures that your liquids do not soak into the bread.  When you pan is hot and smokey, place the bread face down onto the pan and press using a big spatula or two smaller spatulas, in a few tens of seconds, your bread should be toasted brown as shown above.  Turn over and do so for the other side, press hard once again.  Set your bread aside onto an oven tray once they are done.

Next, prep your ingredients and beat one egg into a bowl with one teaspoon of light soy sauce.  Wipe or wash dry your pan and put more grease.  Use a medium-high heat.  Pour your egg onto the pan to cook.  Immediately, top the watery egg mixture with your topping and/or sauce - I used tuna flakes, sliced mushrooms and mozarella cheese.  And then with no time to waste, use one half baguette and press it firsmly down onto your omelette.  Ensure that the bread and egg stick and become one.   Once your egg bottom becomes browned or your egg is cooked to your liking, remove with a spatula and then neatly fold the roti john as you put it down onto the serving plate.  Voila! One down, five to go!

If possible, try to do your roti john as authentic as possible, using minced mutton.  But minced mutton is hard to find in your regular supermarket, not exactly hugely popular I guess.  A solution is to buy frozen halal lamb burgers/patties and then do the mincing yourself at home.  The advantage here is that the meat would have already been seasoned with oddities such as hydrolysed vegetable protein (aka MSG) so you don't have to do the dirty work yourself :p  Otherwise, the best wya to get frehs minced mutton is at the wet market.  Just season with pepper, salt and paprika and stir fry with some onions.

Another key component is the chilli-tomato sauce.  Every self-respecting stall serving roti john will have its own special recipe and the stalls at Golden Mile Hawker Centre at Beach Road have one of the best sauces out there.  But I think for mere mortals like us, buying good quality tomato and chilli sauce and combining them is good enough.

So remember Roti John 101: Egg, topping, Bread and then press, press, press.