Foreigners who live in Japan quickly learn that sliced bread is not this country’s bread and butter. Being a country that relies on rice for daily meals it’s near impossible to find a reasonably priced full-length loaf of sliced bread.
Instead most supermarkets offer small packs containing four to eight slices each of which can be monstorously thick. For people like me who like to make sandwiches every day, this means constant trips to the store to refill on bread.
However, one recipe that made it big on Twitter by Japanese user Yu Tsukari handed down by her mother thankfully can reduce my bread shopping by half. It’s an extremely simple yet clever way to take advantage of Japan’s thicker-sliced bread. You too can give it a try by following our illustrated guide.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1x Egg
- Bacon
- Margarine
- Cheese
- Salt
- Frying Pan
- Knife
It’s just like what you use to make a regular bacon and egg sandwich, but the beauty is in the procedure.
1 – Cut the center out of a slice of bread.
2 – Put the crust onto a preheated frying pan and put a dab of margarine in the middle.
3 – First crack and egg into the center of the bread crust. Then lay some bacon on top. Finally a slice of cheese.
4 – Place the inside piece of bread on top like a lid. You’ll want to pat it down a bit but be careful not to break the yolk if you prefer it intact.
5 – Flip regularly to avoid burning, unless you’re into that.
6 – Add a little salt.
7 – And serve with the bread “lid” facing up.
All in all, it takes about five minutes to make and is arguably less labor intensive than a regular bacon and egg sandwich. Everything fuses together nicely in the frying pan but the inside egg and cheese come out creamy when you slice through the finished product.
On top of that, the variations are endless. Tsukari’s original recipe recommended using soy sauce instead of the cheese if you want a slightly lighter yet equally flavorful sandwich. Personally, I’d go the other way and pour some maple syrup on top of the bacon and squirt a little Kewpie Mayo on top of the cheese along with a dash of oregano. Now that’s breakfast!
If this has put you in the mood to try out some other simple yet ingenious cooking recipes, you can check out our collection of original toaster oven cooking ideas from Japan right here.
Original Article and Photos by Yayoi Saginomiya
Source: Twitter (has a nice cartoon explanation)
[ Read in Japanese ]