Simple and delicious Japanese egg salad sandwich with mayo, salt, and pepper. Pack the sandwich neatly in your kid’s favorite bento box for their on-the-go lunch.
I am usually pretty good at organizing and following my constantly updated to-do list. But once in a while life does get overwhelmingly busy and I fail to plan ahead especially when juggling too many things at the same time. What ends up happening is I call my husband at the office asking him to meet me and the kids at a restaurant for dinner at the last minute.
One of the drawbacks of not cooking dinner at home is that I don’t have “leftover” to pack for my son’s bento (lunch box) the next day. I try to save some leftover in the freezer for an emergency like these, but sometimes no luck. On those days, the easy sandwich comes in handy.
Now for those living in the States, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich might be a common menu for children’s school lunch. However, both of my children always preferred hot panini sandwich than typical soft bread sandwich like these.
The turning point was when we were in Japan last April. My mother loves bakeries and we often visited many local bakeries to pick up fresh bread.
My children really enjoyed freshly baked bread from Japanese bakeries and they especially loved Egg Salad Sandwich, or we call it Tamago Sando (たまごサンド). Japanese sandwich usually uses crust-less white bread slices, probably from British influence. Compared to typical American egg salad sandwich, the Japanese version is very simple – there are no celery, chives or green onions. The eggs are seasoned simply with Japanese mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and sugar.
Now speaking of mayonnaise, I receive several questions from some of you about Japanese mayonnaise. What’s the difference from regular kind? Well, you can read more about it here.
My son loves this Egg Salad Sandwich and this menu is now one of my favorite backup bento plans. I hope you will give it a try and enjoy this simple egg salad sandwich!
Check out my latest Japanese Egg Sandwich (Tamago Sando) recipe and video!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
- 2 slices bread of your choice
- 1 soft/hard-boiled egg (peeled)
- 1 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- salt (kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- pinch sugar (optional, see Notes)
-
Gather all the ingredients. (Make a hard boiled egg on the previous day to save time in the morning.)
- In a small bowl, mash the boiled egg with a fork.
- Add 1 Tbsp. of mayonnaise and mix well. If it's not moist, you can add 1/2 Tbsp. more.
- Season with salt and pepper (and sugar if you like). I like to add salt and pepper a bit more than what I usually add to give good flavor.
- Spread the egg mixture on top a piece of bread and put another slice of bread on top.
- (Optional) Cut off the edges of the bread. Japanese sandwiches usually don’t have edges.
- Cut the sandwich into 2-3 parts depending on the bento box size.
- Pack the sandwich in bento box and put some fruits and vegetables in the empty space.
Sugar: A little bit of sugar is a typical ingredient for Japanese egg salad, but I usually don't add it.
[Please read FOOD SAFETY TIPS.]
This lunch is for my 6-year-old son.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
