Japanese Egg Sandwich Recipe (Tamago Sando) - Hungry Huy (2024)

If you’ve never been to Japan, but are an avid anime orYouTubewatcher of popular Japanese snacks, then you know what I’m talking about.

Tamagosando is a popular Japanese egg salad sandwich that has a rich, buttery egg filling that’s encased in between two fluffy and soft milk bread slices.

What is tamago sando?

Tamagosando, or “egg sandwich” in Japanese, is a very popular egg salad sandwich that can be found in manykonbini(or convenience stores) for a fast and easy snack on the go. Some of the most populartamagosando is sold at 7-Eleven and Lawson stores in Japan.

I first came acrosstamagosando watchingYouTubevideos where people posted their experiences eating the famous egg sandwiches and fruit sando of Japan. If you’ve never experienced atamagosando and are only familiar with western egg salad sandwiches, you might be questioning the relevancy of this post.

While I’ve always enjoyed a good egg salad sandwich, I know some people are deterred by its soft consistency and overly eggy flavor, but thetamagosando is a completely different experience. Japanese egg sandwiches are known for their ultra-softshokupan(milk bread) pieces that encase a super-rich egg filling.

Hardboiled andsoft-boiled eggs

The eggs are one of the most important part of this recipe and I like using organic, pasture raised eggs from Happy Eggs because you get this beautiful golden yolk.When boiling eggs, you want to make sure to also use eggs that aren’t too fresh because it will be more difficult to remove the shells.The boiling process is very similar tomyajitsuke tamago(or ramen egg), grated egg avocado toast, and deviled eggs recipes except it’s boiled for a few more minutes.

Since I want to add sliced eggs with a gelatinous center in addition to the egg salad, I use bothmedium-boiled eggs and hard-boiled eggs. The boil time for each type is very specific, so I boil them separately. Please note that I use large-sized eggs, so if you end up using extra larger or smaller eggs, the timing for your eggs could differ.

After you peel the hardboiled eggs, they should feel firm if you slightly squeeze them. The soft-boiled, gelatinous eggs are softer when you squeeze them, but are still firm and don’t feel watery inside. If your eggs are larger, you may need an additional time or if your eggs are smaller, you may need to reduce the boiling time. I would suggest adjusting the timing with 30 second incremental changes.

TheJapanese mayonnaise: Kewpie

Another special ingredient that really makes this sandwich is the mayonnaise. It is technically an egg mayonnaise sandwich, so the mayo is quite important! Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise differs from traditional American style mayonnaise because it’s got an eggier flavor, it’s slightly sweeter, and includes other flavors and seasonings like msg. Other popular recipes thatincludeKewpie arespicy tuna roll,spicy mayoandkaraage (Japanese fried chicken)dip.

It truly makes a difference to use Japanese mayonnaise in this recipe, but you also want to make sure to use the Japanese version of Kewpie. I’ve seen American versions of Kewpie in my local American grocery stores these days and the difference is that the American versionremoves the msg.

You can tell the difference between American Kewpie and Japanese Kewpie because of the packaging. Japanese Kewpie comes in a plastic bag and the bottle itself does not have a label, while the American Kewpie only has a label on the bottle.You can definitely use the American version if you cannot find the original Japanese Kewpie.

TheJapanese bread: shokupan

Bread is the third main ingredient for this sandwich because it uses soft, pillowy pieces of Japanese milk bread, also calledshokupan. Manykonbiniuseshokupanfor the bread and you’ll find most if not alltamagosando in these stores are crustless.

While you can either make or buyshokupanat your local Japanese bakery or grocery store, you can also use white bread as an alternative. I would recommend trying to find white bread that is soft and fluffy, but not overly sweet.

If you have a loaf to slice, try to cut your slices in about ½ in thick slices and cut off the crusts—I like to do this before assembling so I don’t worry about crushing or spilling the egg filling. You don’t want to have too much bread to filling ratio when making these sandwiches.

Tips for making tamago sando

• Try using eggs that are at least 4-5 days old in your fridge because they are easier to peel. Here’s thescience to boiling older eggsvs. newer eggs if you’re interested.
• Salt the egg filling properly and taste it as you make the filling.
• Fridge the egg filling for about 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to marry with each other and thicken. This will make assembly and cutting much easier.
• Soften some unsalted butter and brush them onto each piece of bread. This acts as an extra flavor, but it also serves anadditional purposeto prevent the bread from getting too mushy from the filling.

If you’re a big egg sandwich fan, you’ll also want to try Korean egg drop sandwiches.