SINGAPORE - We were running short on Singaporean dollars and looking for an economical breakfast when the doorman at our Chinatown hotel suggested we try kaya toast.

“And what, prey tell, is kaya toast?” we asked the man at the boutique-style Majestic Hotel.

“Singaporeans grow up on kaya toast – it’s as much a staple to us as corn flakes are to you,” said the smiling doorman.

“And how much does this kaya toast cost?” we asked.

“Maybe three Singaporean dollars (about $2) – with coffee,” he said.

We were sold.

The doorman scribbled directions to Far East Square – home to Singapore’s oldest temple and school - on a small notepad and we set off in search of the Ya Kun kaya toast eatery, a Singaporean landmark since 1944.

The normally busy central district square was quiet the day we arrived – no lineups at the Ya Kun restaurant, a non-descript facility with an open air front where locals gather each morning for the delicacy known as kaya toast - made with thinly-sliced, charcoal-grilled, brown bread; generously lathered with a syrupy coconut jam mixture; with slabs of butter placed on top to help fuse the taste; and accompanied by a half-boiled egg whose yolk is still raw.

Left:  Morning exercises in the park. Right: Singapore's famous tea making a real art.

The toast is then cut into lady fingers, which you are supposed to dip into the yoke, and served with a local coffee known as kopi-C, made with condensed milk and drained through what one man called the “sock” – a filter made from cheese cloth. Kaya toast is a delicacy handed down by Singapore’s Peranakan people, descendants of the early Chinese who settled this city state, and has evolved into the country’s national food.

“You can’t start a morning properly without kaya toast,” said Lawrence Hoe, the man sitting at the table opposite in Ya Kun who decided to befriend us and tell us all he knew about the sweet-tasting treat that we quickly fell in love with.

Ya Kun is just one of the hundreds of kopitams (coffee shops) that serve the toast, which first showed up on breakfast tables around 1911. Ya Kun was one of the first kaya toast restaurants and now the original shop has grown into 21 outlets scattered across Singapore.

“Ya Kun is the MacDonald’s of Singapore,” said Lawrence.

Actually, MacDonald’s is pretty popular here as well – there are over 60 outlets in this country which is not much bigger than southern Ontario in area. (Note: The MacDonald’s in Singapore stay open 24 hours and many offer home delivery.)

“We Singaporeans don’t eat to live, we live to eat,” said the rotund Lawrence.

Singaporeans are so proud of their kaya toast, the female cooks at Ya Kun, who serve up over 1,000 orders of kaya toast daily, insisted we visit their spotless kitchen and invited us to watch as they assembled their orders. Kaya toast is just one of the things that makes Singapore so unique.