Furikake Tamago Sando

My furikake tamago sando delivers richness and the complex flavor of furikake with soft-boiled egg nestled between pillowy shokupan slices. 

We keep a lot of eggs in our fridge, mainly for ice cream and baked goods. When we can’t use them fast enough, I like to make furikake tamago sando, or Japanese egg sandwich. Tamago translates to “egg” and sando means “sandwich.” We’re not talking about the lunch time staple of boiled egg, mayonnaise, and seasoning sandwiched between two pieces of white bread. This sando is a unique Japanese take on the classic egg sandwich with shokupan, Kewpie mayo, and soft boiled eggs mixed with furikake. The shokupan lends a subtle sweetness while the egg salad delivers richness and complex flavor of furikake with soft-boiled egg nestled in the center. 

Ingredient Notes

• Bread: the sando is made with fluffy, pillowy soft, and lightly sweet shokupan. If you can’t find shokupan, a pullman loaf is a great substitute. You can find shokupan at Asian bakeries.
• Mayo: use Kewpie mayo which is made with only egg yolks which lends a richer flavor, deeper color, and thicker texture. If you can’t find Kewpie mayo, try my homemade aioli but leave out the garlic. You can find it online or at Asian supermarkets.
• Eggs: this recipe uses soft boiled eggs and hard boiled eggs. The soft boiled eggs need to be cooked for 8 minutes to have a slightly runny center. The hard boiled eggs will be made into an egg salad.
• Furikake: is a Japanese condiment made from dried seaweed flakes, sesame seeds, bonito (fish) flakes, salt, and sugar. You can find it online or at Asian supermarkets.

How to Cook The Eggs

For the tamago sando you will need to cook 2 eggs for 8 minutes (soft boil) and 4 eggs for 10 minutes (hard boil). I used the 8-minute boil method to get the soft boiled yolk. To make the eggs, fill a saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs. Bring it to a boil, ease them in with a slotted spoon, and set a timer for exactly eight minutes. If the water boils vigorously, lower the heat but keep it bubbling. When the timer goes off, remove two eggs and dunk them in a large bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. Leave these in a separate bowl from the 10-minute eggs. Continue cooking the remaining eggs for another 2 minutes then transfer them to a large bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

How to Make the Egg Salad

In a large bowl, whisk mayo, salt, and sugar. Cut the 10-minute eggs in half and remove all the yolks. Crumble the yolks into the mayo mixture and whisk to combine.

Finely dice the 10-minute egg whites. Add them to the mayo mixture. Sprinkle furikake on top and gently fold everything into the mayo mixture.

How to make the sandwich

To make the tamago sando, cut off the crusts on all 4 sides of the shokupan slices. Cut the 8-minute eggs in half and place cut-side down, on a slice of shokupan.

Divide the mayo mixture in half. Top the shokupan slice containing the egg halves with the mayo mixture. Place the other slice of bread on top to make the sandwich. Repeat with the second sando. Wrap the sandos tightly with plastic wrap. Mark your vertical cup on the plastic wrap so you will know where to cut. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When ready to eat, use a very sharp knife to cut along the vertical line marked earlier. Discard the plastic wrap, open up the sando, and enjoy.

Storage

These tamago sandos taste best when eaten the same day. They will hold up in the fridge for 3 three days.