S’pore kaya toast among 100 best sandwiches globally, M’sians claim it‘s their dish

Singapore kaya toast ranked 42nd best sandwich in the world

Kaya toast, a common breakfast dish in Southeast Asia, has appeared in a list of top 100 sandwiches globally.

Interestingly, the ranking listed kaya toast as a Singaporean dish, causing Malaysians to question the true origins of the popular sandwich.

TasteAtlas ranking lists kaya toast as 42nd best sandwich in the world

Published on Monday (11 March), the ranking by food travel guide TasteAtlas listed kaya toast as the 42nd best sandwich in the world.

According to the food website, kaya toast originated from Hainanese people who worked as cooks on British ships.

The cooks then settled in Singapore and sold their food to locals, replacing “British jams with local coconut spreads.”

TasteAtlas also described the sandwich as a “popular Malaysian and Singaporean breakfast” dish.

Malaysian netizens confused by list’s sandwich attribution

Some Malaysians are questioning the legitimacy of the ranking, and in particular, whether the dish originated from Singapore.

Malaysian comedy page MGAG even posted a meme referencing Singapore’s previous “attempts” to claim Malaysian dishes as their own, such as Hainanese chicken rice.

MGAG also added another meme showing a Singapore-labelled pickpocket attempting to steal “kaya toast” out of a Malaysian-labelled man’s pocket.

Other netizens joined in the commentary, expressing that Malaysians need to reclaim the ‘title’.

Some users highlighted how ironic it is for the dish to be associated with Singapore despite the country’s apparent inability to produce kaya due to its limited land area.

Despite comments from Malaysians wanting to claim the dish as their own, a few suggested putting the origins aside and focusing on the dish itself.

Also read: M’sian participant claims S’pore dishes are ‘stolen’ from M’sia, including pandan cake and chicken rice

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Featured image adapted from cheungctk on Canva.