BY EDWINNIE EINSTEIN UNJI
KUCHING: Roti King has been attracting the attention of food enthusiasts in the city.
Roti King or Roti Bandung is a delicacy that not many people have seen. It is served with an actual loaf of bread instead of the usual slice that many vendors tend to serve.
Behind this Roti King business is Risduan Hussain, a 35-year-old office worker, who brought this unique dessert to the attention of the public back in 2023.
His business thereafter became increasingly popular due to demand.
“My business is different then the rest here and I worked hard to find the right menu to open this type of business, making sure it is unique in many ways”, Risduan said.
He explained that his initial intention was nothing more than a leisure activity for him to pass his time after coming back from work but due to popular demand, he decided to take it further.
“I leave work at around 12pm or 1pm but it seemed too early for me to just do nothing at home, so I tried to fill in the time gap with leisure activity such as starting a business.
“But I did not expect to attract a lot of customers and social media influencers alike, maybe this dish is a first in Kuching, that is why I did not stop there”, Risduan added.
It took him about a week to perfect his Roti King.
“I researched the locations that can supply us with the raw materials to produce this dessert because when it comes to Roti King, the bread is the main factor compared to other ingredients like chocolate, milk and some other things” he added.
He explained that the bread that he is currently using to sell Roti King is specially made by one of his relatives.
“I specifically wanted a bread that is not too hard but not too soft and one which when on the stove, does not burn too easily.
“I want the customer to taste the crispiness of the bread texture once it is consumed, even if the customer does not want to consume it right away, the softness of the bread still remains after a few hours,” he said.
Risduan shared that the most important aspect while making the dish, is to balance the taste before going onto the stove.
“Some customers prefer it sweet and some customers prefer a bit of a bland taste and some prefer a mix of both.
“Here at Roti King, we try to fulfill the customer’s demand on taste whether to add more milk, chocolate or even the base margarine”, he added.
Speaking of margarine, Risduan explained that he is using margarine as the base ingredient of this dish and not butter, although the margarine brand has the name ‘butter’ on its packaging.
“I know it might confuse some people but I use margarine instead of butter, and one of the videos that was posted online showed the brand that has ‘butter’ on the packaging, and some online commentators thought I was using butter as one of my ingredients, so I want to clarify that I am not using butter, but margarine,” Risduan explained.
For now he is contented with operating out of Pot Bonda Mak Ajie but is open to the idea of expanding the business.
Roti King can be found at Pot Bonda Mak Ajie at Corner City Sqaure of Pending Heights.
