A smart way to beat rising prices and eat on the cheap like a local in Japan.

Japan might not look too different to how it’s looked in recent years, but delve a little deeper and you’ll discover that a tough battle is being fought beneath the surface, and the enemy is the soaring cost of living. With most locals receiving a battering from the increasingly powerful foe, people are now hunting for bargains in an effort to fight back, and if you’re looking at life through the lens of cheap finds like we are, then our recently discovered hidden cheat-code of a product will help you out in a pinch.

▼ This hidden gem can be found at Caffe Veloce.

▼ What’s inside the bag?

Well, the contents of this bag are so under-the-radar that even many Japanese locals don’t know about it, but a black cat on the in-store sign is keen to spread the news. The secret gem is “すみっこパン” (“Sumikko Pan”), a term that refers to the crusts and ends left over when making crustless sandwiches, and the café sells them for the super cheap bargain price of 30 yen (US$0.21) as a food-waste reduction initiative.

▼ “Please help reduce food waste” is written at the top of the sign, and the cat can be seen saying, “What a waste…” at the bottom.

Only available for takeout, we found these offcuts at a branch in Shinjuku, but after checking online, people have also spotted the crusts at other branches, with availability varying by day and location. That means they may not always be available, but when they are, they need to be purchased with at least one other item, so we ordered a tuna and ham mixed sandwich for 330 yen, bringing our total to 360 yen.

Considering that the tuna and ham sandwich contains four triangles of crustless bread for 360 yen, getting two for 30 yen is a great deal. Plus, with the sandwiches made fresh in-store, they’re a cut above regular supermarket loaves, and they looked slightly thicker than their crustless counterparts.

What makes these offcuts particularly appealing is the fact that they’re actually the end pieces of the bread, so they have the same triangular shape as the sandwiches.

▼ That means you can actually use them to hack a regular sandwich.

▼ Simply grab one of the sandwiches…

▼ …and then sandwich that sandwich between the offcuts!

The sandwich is now twice as thick, giving you twice the satisfaction, even without any additional filling. You’d be hard pressed to find a sandwich this hefty for 360 yen in Tokyo, so it ticks both our boxes for satisfaction and value.

▼ Fighting rising prices with a sandwich sandwich.

This double-bread idea is something that’s long been embraced in Britain, with what’s known as the “Toast Sandwich”, but what we have here is a sort of evolved, or upgraded version of that idea.

▼ The Toast Sandwich

Whereas the Toast Sandwich is simply bread sandwiched between bread, this new offcut version uses a filled sandwich as the filling. This gives the crust a serious presence, but it also works to make the softness of the crustless sandwich stand out even more, allowing us to appreciate both types of bread in every bite.

The aroma of the crust also hits first, so overall it has quite a strong toasted fragrance, like something that will appeal to bread connoisseurs. As a sandwich that celebrates the bread over the fillings, the ham, lettuce and cucumber tare relegated o supporting roles in the sidelines, making for an interesting role reversal.

With a sandwich this good, you’ll be able to increase your strength in battle while fighting two fearsome foes – food waste and rising prices. It’ll fill you up more than a regular sandwich, saving you money for other things, so in our books it’s a handy secret to have in your back pocket for those times when you’re feeling extra peckish.

Related: Cafe Veloce
Photos ©SoraNews24
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