“The sun egg sandwich” is 20 centimeters (7.87 inches) in diameter and is on a mission to become a new famous local product of Saitama Prefecture.
We’re starting to be envious of our Japanese-language correspondent Mr. Sato’s metabolism. With the amount of giant food challenges and other gastronomic assignments he takes on, you’d at least think he’d pack on a few pounds every now and then–but the man somehow stays slim, even when wearing loose clothing like the Pajama Suit.
New case in point: Mr. Sato recently spotted something called “the sun egg sandwich” (太陽のたまごサンド) while strolling by a special pop-up stand at the Tobu Department Store in Ikebukuro Station.
▼ An egg sandwich measuring 20 centimeters in diameter?!
The stand was a limited-time offering of Café Sangria, permanently located in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. In 2020, the café appealed to Japanese crowdfunding site Makuake out of a desire to develop a new local specialty foodstuff that could represent Saitama Prefecture. Despite aiming for an initial goal of 200,000 yen (US$1,817) to aid in their efforts, the campaign ultimately succeeded in raising a whopping 1.14 million yen. Subsequent culinary experiments gave birth to the sun egg sandwich, which makes use of local Saitama ingredients such as Sai eggs.
Could that kind of massive bite even still be considered an egg sandwich, or something else completely? It seemed to defy our previous understanding of an egg sandwich up until now. In the name of investigative journalism, however, sign Mr. Sato up, please!
A whole-sized sandwich came to 2,500 yen, though you could also purchase half-sized or quarter-sized ones for cheaper.
He also took special notice of the “tamatozzo” (pictured bottom left in the above photo), or egg maritozzo (based on a sweet Italian pastry). Café Sangria sure had a lot of creative ideas.
Once home, the first thing he noticed when he opened his newfangled egg sandwich prize was a distinct lack of egg. A typical egg sandwich might have slices of egg or perhaps a fried sunny-side up egg poking out somewhere, but this one looked more like a bread pizza than anything from the outside.
Suddenly, its ginormous size finally registered in his mind.
▼ “Look, Ma! It’s bigger than my head!”
There definitely never was, is, or would be another egg sandwich to compete with this one. Mr. Sato thought it was well on its way towards becoming a new famous local specialty food product of Saitama.
However, it still didn’t come across as an egg sandwich in the usual sense. He decided to cut it in half to take a peek inside and was greeted by the following cross section.
It turned out that there was a massively dense hidden omelet inside of the bread. Apparently the creators had tested omelet after omelet until they developed the perfect version to bring out the rest of the delicacy’s inherent flavors.
▼ This must be where it got the “sun” in its name.
Without further ado, Mr. Sato prepared to take a bite. Itadakimasu!
It was a sandwich, after all, so he had no qualms about simply biting into it as-is.
It was unlike anything he had ever tasted before. The pastry part was similar to the light flakiness of a Danish, while the omelet part was almost like a soufflé cheesecake (popular in Japan). It went down smoothly but wasn’t overly rich in flavor.
After a little experimenting he discovered that the sandwich tasted great at room temperature, chilled, or microwaved for 3-4 minutes followed by 1-2 minutes of toasting in the oven.
In fact, this last method turned out to be his favorite. Once toasted, the bread’s buttery nature came to the forefront and gave off a delicious aroma. He enjoyed the crispier outer texture as well. The inner omelet remained fluffy but like a freshly baked sweet.
▼ A drizzle of Saitama’s Matsuda mayonnaise to top it off
Mr. Sato was pleased to learn that the sun egg sandwich can now be ordered online, but with a slight jump in price to 3,300 yen for a whole-sized one. He recommends that anyone who’s interested should swing by the Ikebukuro pop-up location during its limited run if possible. While you’re in the area, you may also want to check out the world’s largest capsule toy specialty store.
Special pop-up stand information
Café Sangria (Ikebukuro: Tobu Department Store location) / カフェサングリア (池袋・東武百貨店催事出店)
Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Nishi-Ikebukuro 1-1-25 Basement Floor 1, Event Space 9
東京都豊島区西池袋1丁目1-25 B1 9番地イベントスペース
Duration: July 15-27
Open: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Reference: Café Sangria, Makuake, Rakuten
All photos © SoraNews24
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