**If you’ve visited Japan, you understand the joy of sinking your teeth into a soft and airy 7-Eleven tamago sando, also known as an egg salad sandwich.**
There’s nothing quite like landing in Tokyo, bleary-eyed after a lengthy flight. You’re thirsty, you’re hungry, and your immediate destination is 7-Eleven for the quintessential treat: a tamago sando.
### Some view the tamago sando as the ultimate sandwich
Myself included. I AM FOND of Japanese egg salad sandwiches. They are genuinely impeccable. Crustless pieces of soft, fluffy Japanese milk bread, known as shokupan, embrace a rich, creamy egg filling. They are remarkably addictive, and I worry I’ve consumed my weight in them during my time in Japan. The fantastic aspect of 7-Eleven egg salad sandwiches is their consistent quality, every single time. You could find yourself in the heart of rural Japan, without a trace of English, let alone a diner, and still come across a 7-Eleven filled with egg salad sandwiches. It’s nothing short of miraculous.
### What constitutes a Japanese egg salad sandwich?
A Japanese egg salad sandwich is basically a Japanese take on the egg salad sandwich. Hard-boiled eggs are combined with Japanese kewpie mayo and placed between two soft slices of Japanese milk bread, or shokupan. Egg sandwiches are extremely popular in Japan. They can be found almost anywhere: in grocery stores, convenience stores, bakeries—essentially anywhere you might purchase a snack or a quick meal. If you ever encounter Japanese Konbini TikTok, you might find yourself diving deep into a sea of konbini snack hauls featuring the humble egg salad sando.
### How to prepare 7-Eleven’s tamago sando egg sandwich
1. **Boil the eggs.** Begin by cooking your eggs. You’ll need 2 large hard-boiled eggs.
2. **Create the filling.** After the eggs are cooked, cooled, and shelled, prepare the filling. Halve the cooked eggs and remove the yolks, just like when making deviled eggs. Combine the yolks with kewpie mayo, a dash of cream (or milk), salt to taste, and just a touch of sugar. Chop the whites and incorporate them into the yolks.
3. **Butter the bread.** Lightly spread butter on the bread, making sure to cover the edges.
4. **Assemble the sandwich.** Generously spread the filling on one slice of bread, then place the other buttered slice on top.
5. **Cut.** Use a very sharp knife or a bread knife to trim off the crusts (chef’s treat!) then slice the sandwich diagonally or into thirds. Enjoy!
### Tamago sando ingredients
– **Milk bread.** To make a Japanese egg salad sandwich, it’s essential to use Japanese milk bread. You can find Japanese milk bread/shokupan at Asian bakeries or try making your own. Shokupan is light and fluffy white bread with a slight sweetness and a fine crumb.
– **Eggs.** Use the best eggs available, as this recipe contains very few ingredients.
– **Kewpie mayonnaise.** Kewpie is a must, more on that shortly.
– **Cream.** A little bit of heavy cream is needed to bring everything together. If you’ve tasted egg sandwiches in Japan, you know how rich their egg salads are. However, this filling is quite creamy, and you can omit the cream if you prefer a more traditional texture.
– **Salt.** Just enough salt to enhance the natural taste of the eggs.
– **Sugar.** A slight sweetness in egg salad sandwiches helps to balance the umami flavors.
– **Butter.** Sandwiches without buttered bread are a crime. Plus, if you’ve ever taken apart a sandwich from 7-Eleven, Lawson, or FamilyMart, you’ll notice that familiar sheen of butter on the bread.
### American vs Japanese Kewpie Mayo
A crucial ingredient for an outstanding Japanese egg salad sandwich is kewpie mayo. Kewpie mayo is Japan’s preferred mayonnaise and salad dressing brand and can be found in nearly every Japanese home. It’s rich yet light, and absolutely delicious. You can find it in its signature squeeze bottle with a red flip top at most grocery stores nowadays, but be aware that if you’re in America, you’re likely getting the American recipe version.
Japanese Kewpie mayo, made in Japan, is golden, creamy, and indulgent. It’s rich and packed with umami. The key difference between the Japanese version and American Kewpie mayo lies in the ingredients, the