Kopitiam Soft Eggs & Toast Soldiers

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 4 slices thick toast, buttered
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce (or regular + pinch of sugar)
• White pepper
• Strong coffee or tea, mandatory in spirit

Method

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, then kill the heat completely. Lower in the room-temperature eggs, cover, and start a timer: 90 seconds for barely-set, 2½ minutes for slightly firmer.
2. Toast and butter the bread while you wait, cutting it into dip-ready soldiers.
3. Crack the eggs into a shallow bowl — the whites should be silky and just opaque, the yolks fully liquid. This texture is the entire point; embrace the wobble.
4. Season with a drizzle of dark soy and a confident shake of white pepper — never black; the kopitiam elders are watching.
5. Dip, swirl, repeat. When the soldiers run out, drink the remaining egg like the locals do. Room-temp eggs matter: cold ones under-set.