The case for hawker breakfast

There is a window, roughly 7 to 8am, when a hawker centre is at its best: the woks are hot, the queues are short, and the aunties still have the patience to chat.

The order

Kaya toast, two soft-boiled eggs, kopi-c. It is the same order every time, and that is the comfort of it. The toast is thin and charred at the edges, the eggs barely set, the coffee thick enough to stand a spoon in.

Why it works

A good breakfast set is an argument against complication. No fusion, no plating, no story on the menu. Just decades of one person making the same thing until it is exactly right. I will take that over brunch any day of the week.

Bring your own patience for the egg-cracking technique. Nobody will teach you, and everybody will judge.