The Legendary Egg Salad Sandwich
And I don't think your ready for 7-11's jelly.
Lawson launched a campaign featuring popular items engorged with 47% more stuff. One of them is the egg salad sandwich or tamago sando.
The conbini cranks these out by the thousands. Workers on an assembly line slather on the egg mix like a mason using a trowel. Once the three layers of sandwich are stacked high, someone with an electric knife slices them into the iconic half-sandwich deck served at the conbini.
In recent years, the tamago sando has grown in popularity. According to Google Trends, interest in the US kicked off in 2018.
It’s impossible to pinpoint the trigger. Anthony Bourdain twice featured the tamago sando on No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Perhaps his death in 2018 inspired fans to seek out some of his favorite items. The tamago sando would have been an easy one to make at home.
The sandwich has just a few ingredients: crustless white bread, hard-boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. Many say that last ingredient separates Japan’s egg salad from the rest. Rather than Hellman’s, the Japanese use Kewpie mayonnaise, which distinguishes itself in two key ways: it has MSG, and uses only egg yolks (Hellman’s uses whole eggs).
The MSG evokes umami, a sixth flavor I refuse to believe is real. While “discovered” by a Japanese scientist, I think it’s principally become a way for high society white people to describe a hamburger.
One YouTuber went through all the trouble of comparing Hellman’s, Kewpie, and Miracle Whip. Spoiler alert: Kewpie comes out on top, thanks to the MSG.
Having worked a summer job at a breakfast-and-lunch spot, I know a thing or two about egg salad. I would boil eggs by the carton, say 96-108 at a time, then peel them one by one. Few things are more frustrating than failing to slip a nail under an egg’s membrane, ensuring a quick, clean peel. In a large bowl, I’d tip a lot of mayonnaise. How much? I couldn’t say. It was less than what went into the chicken and tuna salad. The amount was just right when mashing it all together made the sound of sex. Yes, it was horrible. And for years, I couldn’t eat egg salad.
There is no shortage of food influencers pushing their version of the tamago sando. BuzzFeed’s Tasty even made a video about it.
Then there was the LA restaurant Konbi, which became famous for its tamago sando. The New York Times even featured the dish after it went viral on Instagram.
The best part of this NYT story was hidden in the comments.
Items of the Week
7-11 is selling kakigori in a bag. Kakigori is a pile of fluffy shaved ice topped with syrup and condensed milk. It is spectacularly refreshing in Japan’s sweltering summers. I question its quality coming out of a bag. The ice is more chunky than airy, and 7-11 has replaced syrup with pink chemicals hinting at strawberry. Undoubtedly, kakigori is best served fresh, ideally from an elderly man shaving a block of ice on a cart powered by a foot pedal. But if you’re in a big city where such things are rare, why not cool down with a bag?
FamilyMart is selling a terrifically executed choux cream. They even topped the pastry with craquelin, a thin cookie made from butter, flour, and sugar to provide a crunchy texture to the otherwise soft sweet. I would expect to see this at a boutique bakery in New York or a boulangerie in France, but not a chain convenience store. And wait ’til you see what’s inside: whipped cream and custard cream. They’ve piped these darlings with two creams. Get them while you can.
From the Dumpster
7-11 is releasing a lemon-flavored warabi bar. Warabi is a mysterious plant that makes things into jelly. This bar flops right out of the bag like a soggy dildo allowing for “one-hand” eating. The texture is not for everyone.
You may not be ready for this jelly.
Conbini Haiku
Egg salad sando
How can you be so tasty
Kewpie mayonnaise
Catch Up on the Last Newsletter
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The warabi bar sounds... interesting.
I'll admit I'm big on MSG, I used to drink Maggi seasoning sauce basically from the bottle and I'm pretty sure that flavor is supposed to be 100% umami (conflicting accounts on if there's added MSG). That Kewpie mayo sounds like an absolute game changer.