Instant Pot Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich (Tamago Sando)

Instant Pot Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich. Homemade tamago sando are easy when you hard boil your eggs in an Instant Pot.

I fulfilled a lifelong dream when I spent 2 glorious weeks in Japan. Japanese food is amazing, some of the best I’ve ever eaten. (One of our stops was in Kobe, of course, but that’s another story.)

My biggest surprise was the konbini – Japanese convenience stores – and the fantastic food at Family Mart, 7-11, and Lawsons. Fresh ground and brewed coffee for 100 yen (about 70 cents)! Fried chicken, cooked on-site, hot and crispy! And, my favorite, tamago sando (Japanese egg sandwiches), ready to grab from the refrigerator case.

Japanese Egg Salad Sandwiches with Kewpie mayo and an Instant Pot in the background

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Tamago sando are a great example of the art of simple food. Egg salad sandwiched in pillowy white bread, with the crusts removed. If you’re reading this, you probably know all about these egg sandwiches; if not, I’m thrilled to introduce you to them.

My Instant Pot is my secret weapon, making hard-boiled eggs easy. Seek out Kewpie mayonnaise at your local specialty grocery store or Asian market because it is the key to this recipe.

Ingredients

6 Eggs
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 tablespoons (¼ cup) Kewpie mayonnaise
2 teaspoons milk
Butter (for the bread, optional)
8 slices of bread (makes 4 sandwiches)

How to Make Japanese Egg Salad Sandwiches in an Instant Pot

Hard boil the eggs (Instant Pot 5-5-5 eggs)

Pour 1 cup of water into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Put a vegetable steaming basket in the pot, and set 6 large eggs in the basket. Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (“Manual” or Pressure Cook mode on the Instant Pot.). Once the pressure cooking time is over, let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes to finish cooking, then quick release any remaining pressure. Immediately move the eggs to an ice water bath to chill for at least 5 minutes. (Detailed hard-boiling instructions here: Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs)

Peel the eggs and mash the filling

Peel the hard-boiled eggs and put them in a medium bowl. Mash each egg a few times with a fork to break it into big chunks and expose the yolks. (We will mash them more later.) Sprinkle the eggs with the sugar, salt, and pepper, then drizzle with the Kewpie mayonnaise and the milk. Stir and mash until the eggs and mayo are thoroughly combined and the eggs are broken into small pieces. (They should not be completely smooth).

Making Japanese Egg Salad Sandwiches on a cutting board

Make the sandwiches

If you are buttering your bread, spread the butter on the slices of bread now. Spread the egg salad mix in a thick, even layer over one slice of bread, then top with another slice. Repeat until all the egg salad is used up. For a traditional tamago sando presentation, slice the crusts off the sandwiches (they make a great chef’s treat), then slice each sandwich diagonally. Serve and enjoy!

Equipment

A 6-quart instant pot (or other 6-quart pressure cooker)

A steamer basket, egg rack, or trivet to lift the eggs off the bottom of the pot.

Recipe Tips

Kewpie mayonnaise: The critical ingredient is Japanese mayo, known as kewpie mayonnaise. It gives these egg sandwiches distinctive tamago sando taste. Kewpie mayo, named after the doll, is creamier and made with apple cider and malt vinegar. You can substitute American mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, but only Kewpie mayonnaise has the traditional flavor for this recipe.

White Bread: The other key ingredient is soft, fluffy white bread, with the crusts removed. In Japan, they use shokupan, Japanese milk bread, made in a square baking pan with a lid so they can perfectly slice the edges. Shokpuan is incredibly soft and a little bit sweet, almost like biting into a cloud. I can’t find shokupan in my area, so I substitute brioche, which is a little sweeter and buttery than shokupan but has the same general flavor profile and texture. If you can’t find brioche, go with the softest, fluffiest white bread you can find.

Hard-boil the eggs ahead of time: Hard-boiled eggs will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, so you can cook the eggs well before making the sandwiches. (Also, egg sandwiches are a great way to use up leftover hard-boiled eggs.)

Scaling

You can scale this recipe up and down if you need a specific number of sandwiches.

For every 2 sandwiches you need, use:

3 eggs
6 teaspoons Kewpie mayonnaise (1½ tablespoons)
⅛ teaspoon sugar (a pinch)
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt (a pinch)
⅛ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (a pinch)
1 teaspoon milk
Butter (enough to butter the bread) optional
4 bread slices

Storing Leftovers

According to the USDA, egg salad will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Egg salad does not freeze well, so eat your egg sandwiches within 4 days.