Ten minutes and four dollars worth of ingredients will bring you one of the world’s greatest sandwiches: egg salad. Originally popularized in Britain in the early 1800s, egg salad has been a diner and Jewish deli fixture in the United States for more than a hundred years, though it had recently fallen out of fashion. Thankfully, Japan (specifically Japanese convenience stories, or konbini, like Lawson and FamilyMart) have resurrected the decadent antiquity, mixing perfectly boiled eggs with MSG-rich Kewpie mayonnaise and serving the salad between slices of ethereal, untoasted milk bread. Daniel prefers toasting his bread to add texture, but only if the sandwich will be eaten right away. Success depends on the quality of the eggs you use, so spring for the expensive farmers’ market kind.
Recipe from Food IQ: 100 Food Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts
2 sandwiches
- Place your eggs in a small pot and add water to cover by at least 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, remove from the heat, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. (Once cooled, the eggs will keep in their shell in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)
- Peel the eggs, then chop into 1|4-inch pieces. Transfer to a bowl, add the mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and mix thoroughly.
- Toast the bread, then divide the egg mixture evenly between two toasted slices and close the sandwiches with the remaining two slices. Cut in half and enjoy.