If you love American egg salad sandwiches, you will love the Japanese version!

What makes a Japanese Tamago Sando different from an American Egg Salad Sandwich?

Well for starters, Tamago (means egg in Japanese) Sando (Japanese abbreviation for sandwich) uses a very simple egg salad recipe. Japanese style egg sandwiches often only use Japanese mayo, salt, pepper and sugar whereas the American version uses vinegar, salt, pepper, onions and celery. Japanese egg sandwiches are definitely more egg-y than the American style but I almost prefer them because of how simple they are to make.

Where to find a Tamago Sando?

You can usually find them in Japanese grocery stores like Mitsuwa. However, the first time I had a Tamago Sando was at 7/11 in Japan. I know you’re probably like whaaaaaaat? A 7/11? But YES! Konbinis (name of Japanese Convenience Stores) are super popular in Japan and there is basically one on every corner. From the moment I landed in Japan, I was on the search for a Tamago Sando and luckily, I didn’t have to venture too far as there was a 7/11 right next to my hotel. I truly experienced culture shock when I first entered because there was a wide variety of fresh pre-made foods as well as cooked foods. The tamago sandos were stocked on the refrigerated shelves alongside tuna mayo, tonkatsu and my other favorite, the fruit sando. Each sandwich uses the fluffiest and softest white bread you’ll ever have and the best part? They’re crustless! I believe I paid around $2 USD for each sandwich which is such a good deal!

Okay but how do I make them?

You will need:

3 whole hard boiled eggs
2 tbsp Japanese mayo

You can totally use any type of mayo but since it’s a Japanese egg sandwich, Japanese mayo is preferred!

The most common brand of Japanese mayo is Kewpie! It’s the brand with the baby on it. The main ingredients of both mayo are eggs, oil and vinegar however Japanese mayo uses rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar which gives it a sweeter taste, compared to American mayo which uses distilled vinegar giving it a more acidic taste. Japanese mayo also only uses egg yolks whereas American mayo uses the entire egg. The eggs used in Japanese mayo are also very different. Japanese egg yolks are more deep orange in color in comparison to the yellow yolks of American eggs resulting in a thicker, more custard-like product. I like to say that Japanese mayo is the more luxurious mayo.

pinch of white pepper

You can use black pepper if you don’t have white pepper but I prefer the taste of white pepper as it’s a bit more spicy. Black peppercorns are picked when they’re almost ripe and then sun-dried to produce an outer black shell that you see in black pepper. White peppercorns on the other hand don’t have a present outer shell. Their outer shells are removed before and after drying leaving a white inner seed. I find that white pepper has more of a kick and a slightly different flavor in comparison to black pepper. I use a lot of white pepper since it’s the more commonly used pepper in Asian cooking. I believe because it’s more aesthetic (no black flecks in food) and gives the dish more flavor overall. In this recipe, you can totally sub one for the other and not notice too much of a difference.

1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
bread slices

Use milk bread if you can find it! If not, use white bread.

Milk bread is white bread since it uses the same ingredients however milk bread has the addition of milk. Milk bread is famous to Japan, specifically Hokkaido since that’s where it originates. It’s a very soft and fluffy bread that is sweeter and milkier in comparison to western bread. In this recipe, you can use either but milk bread is the typical bread used in Japanese sandwiches.