Home cooking: Tamago Sando
Our second easy Japanese recipe for beginners is tamago sando or Japanese egg sandwich. In Japan, tamago sando is extremely popular and a staple at bakeries, supermarkets and convenience stores. One can even do a taste test between the egg sandwiches from the three major convenience stores: Lawson, 7-Eleven and Family Mart. Imagine sinking your teeth into velvety mounds of egg and mayonnaise sandwiched between two fluffy slices of bread, a perfect bite that hits the spot any time of the day.
While nothing beats the convenience of purchasing a tamago sando from the store, this easily accessible and highly affordable sandwich is actually very simple to recreate at home. Below is our version of the tamago sando, which can be adapted to your liking. The key to this recipe is the jammy egg yolk, which takes about eight minutes to cook. Those who prefer a hard boiled egg with completely set yolks should increase the cook time.
Ingredient list for tamago sando
- 3 eggs
- Water to boil the eggs
- 2 slices of bread
- Japanese mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper
- Butter or oil for cooking
- A bowl of iced water to submerge the eggs after they cook
Directions for making tamago sando
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and turn the heat down to medium-low. Then, lower the eggs into the pot carefully with a spoon. Set your timer for eight minutes to get a jammy-runny egg yolk.
- While the eggs are cooking, butter the bread slices and toast them. Note that this step is optional, but we decided to go for a light toast.
- After eight minutes, transfer the eggs to the bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. Let the eggs sit in the ice bath for a few minutes before peeling the shell off carefully.
- Mash two of the peeled eggs, add some mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper. Mix these up together nicely, then spread a layer onto one slice of bread.
- Slice the remaining egg into half lengthwise and place it on top of the open sandwich. Close the sandwich with the remaining slice of bread.
- Slice the sandwich diagonally and enjoy your tamago sando! Wrapping the sandwich in paper is optional, but we chose to do it because it then becomes easier to hold the sandwich together after slicing.
