Egg Curry Pan Sandwich puts bread inside bread for a new take on a traditional classic.

“It’s often the case that when you stop looking for something, you find it.”

These are the lyrics from “Yume no Naka e”, a famous song by Japanese singer Yosui Inoue, and they rang true for our reporter Mr Sato recently when he finally came across a bizarre product he’d given up looking for — the Egg Curry Pan Sandwich. Created by Fujipan, one of Japan’s leading bakery companies, the Curry Pan Sandwich had once captivated Mr Sato with its unusual combination of fried curry pan, or curry bread, inside a white bread sandwich, but it was so popular he couldn’t find it anywhere.

Having never laid eyes on it in person, Mr Sato ended up thinking it may have been the stuff of fables, but when he stopped by the Libre Keisei supermarket in front of Aoto Station on the Keisei Line the other day, he would soon find out that the mythical sandwich was actually real.

This supermarket is quite rare so it immediately lured Mr Sato inside, and as he was browsing the aisles, checking out the price of meat, fish, and vegetables, he headed over to the bento section to check out the lunch selections. At that moment, though, he felt as if something was looking at him, asserting its presence from the bread aisle. Turning his gaze towards it, he let out a gasp as he read the words “たまごカレーパンサンド” (“Tamago Curry Pan Sandwich”).

There, glistening like something from heaven, was the Egg Curry Bread Sandwich he’d long been yearning for, and it was only 130 yen (US$0.88). With just two left in stock, it was a meeting that was meant to be, so he wasted no time in picking them both up and rushing back to the office to try them.

Mr Sato had never imagined that he’d find the fabled Curry Pan Sandwich at such a random supermarket. He’d searched high and low for it at many supermarkets in his area and even stopped by Fujipan-operated stores in the hopes that they might stock it, all to no avail. This fateful encounter was so sudden and unexpected he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he did know one thing for certain — he would be getting his teeth into it pronto.

Feeling strangely shy and awkward, as if meeting a long-admired celebrity for the first time, Mr Sato lined up the breads and sat in awe at the audacity of the product.

▼ Even the blurb acknowledges the oddity of the sandwich, saying “A curry bread sandwiched in bread!?“

It takes balls to stuff a piece of fried curry bread inside two slices of bread, and the hand holding it all on the pack looked like it was shaking in trepidation at the weirdness.

With his own hand shaking in much the same way, Mr Sato slowly reached in and pulled out…

▼ …some thick-sliced white bread.

It felt full and heavy, and when he turned it over, expecting to see a lot of curry in the curry pan, he was surprised to find something else.

Rather than being generous with the curry, it appeared that the bread was the star of the show, with only one section each taken up by curry (“カレー”) and egg (“たまご”), compared to three bread (“パン”) areas.

When he peeled off the top slice of bread, he made another unexpected discovery: the outside of the curry pan had been smeared with curry to help the bread firmly stick to it, creating a sturdy construction.

This all looked good from Mr Sato’s point of view, and now there was one thing left to do…

▼ … lift up the mythical bread-on-bread-on-bread sandwich and try it.

Feeling like a food warrior who had long been waiting for this moment, Mr Sato brought his mouth to the sandwich and let his teeth sink into the soft, pillowy bread.

He expected the softness to then give way to a satisfying crunch — one of the appeals of fried curry bread — but instead, his teeth kept sinking down into more softness. Everything was soft and crispy, which was not what he’d imagined for this long sought-after experience, but he soon overlooked the lack of crunch when he tasted the curry, which was robust enough to stand out strong on the palate, despite being used so sparingly. It added a gentle sweetness that faintly reminded him of fruit, which was lovely, but when his palate went searching for the egg that he’d eaten, he couldn’t find it at all.

There was perhaps only a hint of egg in the mix, which was surprising, and as he ate the rest of the sandwich, he found that there were no wild flavours to contend with here — just pure bread and curry bread, which he didn’t mind at all.

Although he may have built up impossibly high expectations for the humble sandwich, it delivered exactly what was promised, and filled him up nicely It taught him a lot about the value in combining simple ingredients, however incompatible they might seem, and a lot about life in general. Because when you stop looking for something, chances are you’ll find it, and when you do, it’ll be far more special than something that was readily available.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]