Recipe: Konbi's Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich (+ Fresh Truffles)

I want to introduce you to one of my all-time favourite kind of sandwiches: the Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich (or Tamago Sando). Traditionally, it is a mixture of hard boiled eggs with Japanese mayo sandwiched between two slices of milk bread. Super simple ingredients but extremely tasty and wholesome! Although I haven’t personally tried the OG versions from Japanese convenience stores such as FamilyMart, Lawsons, and 7 Eleven yet; it’s always made me feel nostalgic of my childhood. I almost got to try the famous version by Konbi was when I visited LA back in April but unfortunately, it was too out of the way from where I was staying. Having said that — I knew my love was real because I literally could. not. stop. thinking. about. it. from the moment I set foot back in Vancouver. So I set my mind to making the sandwich myself the next day.

In celebration of Konbi getting crowned Restaurant of the Year from Bon Appétit's Top Restaurants of 2019, I decided to make it again and dress it up! This recipe is super easy to follow and based on how I romanticize the Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich: perfect medium-hard boiled eggs mixed with Kewpie mayo plus the iconic jammy soft boiled egg centre (thanks for the inspo Konbi!), all sandwiched between two slices of crustless, fluffly milk bread. I recommend using my ingredients list as a reference and adjust to your liking while you’re tasting.

Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich

Ingredients

2 slice of milk bread
4 large eggs
Salt to taste
1.5 tbsp Kewpie mayo
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp chives, thinly sliced (optional)
Butter for spreading on bread
Fresh truffles (optional)

Let’s begin

Bring a pot (or pan tall enough for 1 inch of water above the eggs) of water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare 2 ice baths in 2 separate bowls.
Once your water comes to a boil, gently add all your eggs in with a spoon. After 6 minutes, transfer 1 of your soft-boiled eggs into one of ice baths. This will be your slutty egg centre. Leave the remaining eggs for another 2 minutes, then transfer medium-boiled eggs into the second ice bath and leave to cool for at least 5 minutes.
Gently crack the shells of each egg with the back of a spoon. Carefully peel your eggs. Pro tip: Keep them submerged in the ice bath while you’re peeling, this should help release the shells.
Slice your 6 minute soft-boiled egg in half and set it aside. Roughly chop remaining medium-boiled eggs into a bowl. Pro tip: I like to take the yolks out before I chop up the whites to ensure no wastage.
Add Kewpie mayo, dijon mustard, chives, salt then fold everything together. I like to keep my egg salad a little chunky so I only mix it until the yolk becomes a thick paste.
Cut off all the crusts cause our end product should strictly be fluffy goodness and lightly butter one side of your bread slices. Sprinkle just a touch of salt onto each half of your soft-boiled egg, then lay them yolk side down in the centre of one slice of bread. Pro tip: For the Konbi egg effect, the slimmer side of the egg should point outwards while the rounder side should meet in the middle of the bread.
Cover your soft-boiled eggs with egg salad and use a spatula to spread evenly over the bread. Position remaining slice of bread on top and cut your sandwich into three, perpendicular to the yolks, to expose your slutty egg.
Optional and totally unnecessary: Make it rain truffles, or spend 15 minutes artistically covering your sandwich with truffles.