What is Japan Doing To Sandwiches?!?!

This is a Japanese steak sandwich, a food I found in Osaka, and more proof that Japan is destroying American food. Japan spent centuries perfecting its own food, but then they set their sights on ours. Now they're pulling the concept of sandwiches apart, piece by piece, then putting it back together into something unrecognizable. For the sandwiches, he uses a total of 10 eggs. 10 eggs? So here's the mission. As a food journalist, I'm going undercover, trying them all and giving you the unfiltered truth. To an American, it's a foreign concept putting fruit in a sandwich. It's kind of blasphemous. Are these creations brilliant? It feels perfect. Or a complete bummer? What happens when you mix ordinary sandwich bread with the most revered beef in the world? Let's go for it. Let's try it. It all starts here with one ingredient folks in this country have mastered, the egg. When it comes to eggs, folks in Japan are absolutely obsessed. Go to any 7-Eleven and the shelves will be stocked with egg sandwiches. But the restaurant behind me is taking egg sandwiches to the next level. Let me show you. This sandwich shop has gone absolutely viral, and it's all because of one sandwich. A cloudy, pillowy, egg-packed creation that many call the fluffiest egg sandwich in Japan. But who decided that a fluffy sandwich is actually a good thing? Sir, put it there. Meet the man behind the sandwich, Hideki Hosaka. Soon we're going to talk about your sandwich. But if you go to any 7-Eleven in Japan, you're going to find an egg salad sandwich. The bread is perfectly soft inside. The egg salad is fluffy and rich and creamy and very satisfying. What is so special about the egg salad sandwich in Japan in general? I don't know why. Can I tell you what I think it is? Sometimes our friends, they let us down. Sometimes our family, they let us down. But egg sandwich, it never lets us down. It all starts with the eggs. How many eggs are going into one single sandwich? He uses a total of 10 eggs. 10 eggs? Is that why you're so jacked? The chef separates the yolks from the whites. In Japan, Japanese doctors, they recommend between 10 and 30 eggs per day, yes? That's what I heard. Okay, good, good, good, good, good. Those whites get whisked into a full-on meringue, the kind you'd normally find in a Parisian pastry shop window. So what's it doing in a dish like this? The yolks meet custard cream and a pinch of sugar. Then the two come together into something that's delicate and airy. To make one of these, how long does it take? 20 minutes. 20 minutes? Yeah. Two slices of bread get hit with a slick of mayo. Then somehow, that giant cloud of meringue gets tucked right in between. Wrap it. Slice it. And just like that, the inside reveals itself to the world. But he's not done yet. Next, egg salad is nestled into the center. A glossy layer of egg yolk and garlic butter draped over the top. Then one last trip to the oven to seal the deal. When I saw this recipe online, I thought, this is not a man who's looking to maximize profit. I thought, this man is trying to make the best egg sandwich in the world. Do you think this is indeed the best egg sandwich in the world? He's saying there are definitely things he needs to improve. Sure. Me too. Joining me, Sarah. A local content creator who built her own private tour company from the ground up, specializing in Japanese food and culture. You've never tried this before. No. How do you feel? It's actually not as heavy as I thought. No. It must be really packed with air. Together, this is one sandwich. But when you come to this restaurant and order the sandwich, you get half because it's so freaking huge. What's interesting to me is, I asked him, are you doing something special with the bread? The bread is so important to a sandwich. And he's like, no. I just use bread. It's getting soupy in there. Like, look at this. Oh my God. Cheers. Oh my God. It is so fluffy. Oh my God. The meringue is so fluffy. It just disappears into my mouth. Sometimes meringue on a pie can just be overly sweet. Here, it's just slightly sweet. It pairs perfectly with that savory egg, with that garlic butter, and the richness of that yolk. How are you doing so... Look how neat hers is compared to mine. I'm Japanese. How do you do it? It's an acquired skill. Yeah. What's special about this sandwich is that it's an experience. This is not something you can get off the shelf at 7-Eleven. No. It's something with an expiration date. And that expiration date's about 12 minutes. So you better get in your mouth on it quickly, or else the experience is going to fade. It's really that aeration that creates this super fluffy texture, but still creating a really rich mouthfeel of the smooth eggs. You're so fast. What's wild is that this is only our first location of this video. Throughout this video, we're going to be experiencing some of the most off-the-wall sandwiches you can find in Japan. And by the end, we're going to find out if some of these daring recipes are delicious or a complete disaster. Let's keep moving. In the USA, pork sandwiches are most often delivered in the form of a tender, fatty, pulled pork sandwich. But Japan plays pork in hard mode, taking the leanest, least fatty, most dry cut of meat, then turning it into this country's most popular sandwich. The Japanese are absolutely obsessed with katsu sandos. But at the end of the day, it is just pork and bread. So what's the big deal? The tonkatsu sando. It's a convenience store staple all across Japan. But here, they're taking this simple sandwich and elevating it to its highest potential. But just because the locals like it doesn't mean I'm buying into the hype. It all starts with a clean, thick cut of pork loin, way thicker than anything you'd find at the 7-Eleven. The concern with eating a tonkatsu this big would be that it could be dry. It's a tricky part of the pig because there's like no fat there. And if you overcook it, it could easily be dry and not very satisfying. All the tonkatsu sandwiches they make, they are for takeaway. They're packaged like this because they're meant to be boxed up and eaten outside. It feels perfect. He has cut away the crust. Did he cut away some of the cutlet too? Is this guy eating cutlet scraps all night? Because that's what I'd be doing. Enough talking, let's go for it. I think the chef knows what he's doing. I knew I loved it before I even tasted anything because my teeth went through that pork so easily. It's hot, it's steamy, it's juicy. That is the softest meat I've ever had in a tonkatsu sando. Like if you get these tonkatsu sandos in convenience stores or supermarkets, the meat is really thin and it actually feels like you're just eating sauced batter. But here, you actually taste the meat and the meat is so soft, so tender. This is absolutely amazing. Beyond the texture, there's a wonderful flavor combination here because the pork has a naturally kind of savory salty flavor, but he's paired that with a sweet sauce or a glaze. So it's a little bit of salty, a little bit of sweet, all together in one bite. Would you like another one? Yeah, I do. Don't worry, I won't take it. Right here, I have the coveted middle piece. Beyond that, this is heavy. Do you have a stripe of fat on the edge of yours? Maybe I just got a lucky piece. You did. You have a lot more fat than I did. That's not what I meant. For me, I didn't know that there were levels of tonkatsu experience that you could have in Japan. I just knew the one bottom of the barrel type. With everything you find at Family Mart, is there some place that's just doing it better than everybody? Yeah. For example, fruit sandos. Oh. In the USA, the idea of fruit inside a sandwich stops at the P, B, and J. That is the line and we do not cross it. But inside this next Japanese sandwich, fruit isn't just featured, it's the star. Let's start simple. What is a fruit sandwich? It's a way to eat fruit. Out of all the developed countries, Japan has the least consumption of fruits, unfortunately. And even though we have distinct four seasons and we grow a lot of really good fruits, there's not much consumption. So he wanted to change that. He wanted the public to eat more fruits. Why should people be eating more fruit? Because I love fruits. Oh, OK. You know what? Fair enough. Here at Rosier, the fruit you'll find in your sandwich, well, it depends on what time of year you walk through the door. Today, we'll try two crowd favorites, the melon mango sandwich and the strawberry sandwich. When it comes to sandwiches, is there anything that should not go between two pieces of bread? I think we have the freedom to sandwich literally anything. In Japan, we have stir-fried noodles sandwich. Oh, wow. So it's like a carb-loading food, I guess. Yeah. Maybe you can't sandwich bread between bread. If anybody could, it's a smash. But none of it works without the whipped cream. Theirs is made in-house from a closely guarded recipe. A recipe that likely contains heavy whipping cream, sugar, and possibly mascarpone. Now, the assembly. A spread of custard goes on the bread, followed by the fruits. Both sandwiches get the same treatment here. Then a thick crown of whipped cream. The chef meticulously spreads it across, almost swallowing the fruit whole. But with all the custard and cream, at what point does this stop being a sandwich? I think as an American looking at the food that you're serving here, it's almost tempting to call it not a sandwich, but cake. He doesn't think it's a cake. It's not cake. He thinks of it as like a dessert, but it could also be served as breakfast. Oh, this is a tough one. This is like a category-busting sandwich. It's kind of all over the place. It seems like it has all the same elements of a cake, but just in a different form factor. So what makes this different from a cake? First of all, they use bread, and bread doesn't use eggs. The typical cake sponge use eggs. And also, their fruit sando aren't very sweet, whereas cakes are sweet. That's why it acts as a vessel to eat the fruits. So fruits are treated a little differently in Japan compared to the West. We treat them more as like a luxury. We even have a big culture of gifting high-quality fruits to people, because fruits can be really expensive in Japan. And the fruits you guys have are not as sweet. And in Japan, we have extremely sweet fruits. So why do you think Japanese fruits are sweeter than in the USA? Because they're grown with so much care. You know, farmers, they snip off some fruits from one tree so that the perfect ones get the most nutrients. You're making me feel like I need to defend my nation. Are you saying Americans don't put care into our fruit? Yes. We have armies of people, mostly undocumented from other countries, coming in to sacrifice their blood, sweat, and tears to make fruit in the USA. And that's not as good as Japan? No. Okay. We put so much more effort into making fruits in Japan. But what about the workers? Are they documented? Yes. I think that's where that little bit of extra sweetness comes from. The thing with me is, if he just gave me a sandwich with cream inside, I'd be fine with that. If he just gave me a cup full of cream with no bread, I'd be even better. To me, the fruit is almost like a necessary evil. I must endure the fruit to enjoy the cream. But perhaps it's going to be amazing. Please, give it a shot. Show us the way it's done. Oh, there's no way to eat this neatly. Oh, you did pretty good. Oh my god. Wow. The sweetness of these fruits are next level. I'm not even the biggest melon fan, but it almost tastes like honey. That is a nice melon. And the cream is so light and fresh. Really, really enhances the sweetness of the fruits. The cream is slightly sweet, but it's not too much. I totally get why the owner said the Sando is a vessel for eating fruit. The fruit is definitely the star in here. This is the most popular sandwich at this shop, and I can see why. It's gorgeous. I must say, I'm impressed. It's so light, it's delicate, it's sweet. It is a sandwich. It's not a cake. For me, the fruit is nice, but my favorite part, the whipped cream, for sure. Super light and easy to eat. Final question. Is this a food that men and women can enjoy? Because it kind of seems like chick food. Good question. Thank you. I don't think my husband would enjoy this. My girlfriends, they would definitely enjoy this. Oddly enough, when it comes to looking at the opposite sex, men are more visually oriented. But when it comes to the actual food, women are like, oh my god, there's dainty fruit, and it's carved up perfectly, and it's photogenic. For men, when they see a sandwich, they look at what's on the inside. They look deeper. And it's because we're just more caring, nurturing people, I think. Japanese Wagyu is by far the most expensive beef on earth. But what we're about to try isn't just Wagyu. It's the rarest piece from the rarest cut from the rarest beef that exists. And instead of pan searing it like you might expect, it's going to be deep fried. The final result will either be the greatest sandwich ever made or one very expensive mistake. I done. Soon, I'll be sitting down with the rarest cut of beef I've ever encountered inside the most premium sandwich on the menu. But first, we're starting with their entry-level Wagyu Katsu Sando. We're going to get to this sandwich soon. But first, I want to talk about what's inside the sandwich. Because there's different grades when it comes to Wagyu. And the best, most expensive grade is A5. But what I was told is that you are serving A4. What is the reason for using A4 instead of A5? Considering that A5 is a more premium cut of beef. A5 Wagyu are said to be the fattiest beef out of all the grades. But they think that the A5 Wagyu are too fatty to be made into a sandwich. That is why to balance the red meat and the fat, they are using A4 on purpose. So not to say bunny. No, no, no, no, no. It starts with a trim from the most prized part of the cow, the tender loin. The Wagyu is from Nara Prefecture. Which is quite close to where we are. Maybe this came from one of those deer. Yeah, no, no deer. Are you sure? The beef, yeah. The bowing deer. The meat is seasoned with nothing but Sicilian rock salt and black pepper. Anything more would be an insult. It gets dipped in batter, then coated in panko before dropping into scorching oil. My American brain can't comprehend a steak being deep fried. But I do like where this is going. Meanwhile, on toasted bread, the chef adds tartar sauce. Built from Japanese pickles, honey, and fresh cream. The fried Wagyu goes on top, finished with their house sauce. A recipe this kitchen guards closely. Crusts are trimmed, four pieces presented. Clean, uniform, almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. Oh, wow. How is that so soft? It's so soft. And he's right. Sometimes that A5 can be too much. It can be so rich that it almost makes you sick. This is not that. With the A4, it's perfect. The bread is thin. It's toasted. The sauce inside, it's a little bit sweet. The counterbalance, the richness of the meat. And then the meat. I mean, the steak. It's a perfect steak. How would an anime character say oishii? Can you do it like that? That was nice. I like that. Now here's where it gets interesting. This sandwich costs three times more than our last bite. And yet it comes from the exact same tenderloin. This here is premium Wagyu. A cut that's known as the tenderloin. But if you slice it here and slice it here, these two ends become the fillets. And you're left with this premium cut in the center, the chateaubriand. You can see when you look at this cross section of meat how beautiful that fat distribution is. It's perfect marbling. It's fat evenly distributed throughout the meat. What's wild is that even though this is all the same muscle group, if you're using this middle section, the price is twice as much. So what I want to see is if I can really tell the difference between eating the fillet, which we tried already, and this right here, the chateaubriand. Same as before. But may I remind you that this is chateaubriand we are talking about. The kind of cut that gets plated in fine dining restaurants worldwide is being submerged in oil. This time the bread is made with black charcoal, one of the pricier loaves on the market. It gets a spread of tartar sauce, then the chateaubriand, then that secret katsu sauce. And if that didn't look expensive enough, how about some gold flakes? Finally, the question remains, is this craft? Is this theater? And is any of this worth a price tag that's more than three times what we just paid? There's only one way to find out. When you look at the differences between this sandwich and what we had already, it looks thicker, right? It does, for sure, yeah. Thicker and fuller. What do you think the reason is for deep frying the steak rather than searing it on a flat top or a skillet? If you just sear the beef on top of a skillet, that's just gonna make a steak, right? So it's kind of like a separate thing. They do their own thing. By them deep frying the wagyu, it creates a nice panko layer that really absorbs in the sauce and it kind of, you know, it goes well together. Perhaps the panko is important because it serves as this kind of like sandpaper texture that creates friction that holds the sauce and the bread in place. And I think if they don't have that, the bread will just fall off. It will have its own opinion. Sure. Let's go for it. Let's try it. It's better. So much better. They've nailed it with the using A4 instead of A5. It's fatty but it's not overly fatty and it's so tender. The fat is really merging into the red meat perfectly and it really, really melts in your mouth. Absolutely. That is the best way to put it. I love how they really toast the bread. So it kind of creates the nice contrast between the crunchiness of the bread and the melting texture of the meat. I hate to say it. It's a perfect sandwich. I came here to Japan as a journalist. I put boots on the ground and I had a mission. And the mission... Hold on one second. And the mission was to see how Japan is destroying American sandwiches. But it turns out in the end that Japan is making fantastic sandwiches. There's nothing to not like about this. This can make a vegetarian convert to a carnivore diet. It's that good. And you want to know the secret ingredient inside? Yeah. They use tartar sauce made from narazuke which are Japanese pickles made from Japanese cucumber and sake leaves. Sake leaves? Sake leaves. They're byproducts of sake fermentation. Wow. It really goes well with the tenderness of the meat. My final thoughts on this sandwich is believe the hype. This type of sandwich, you see it in so many thumbnails. It's online everywhere. It's this iconic food of Japan. This is a food that would be easy to overlook but it's definitely worth taking the time to find a place like this and to really have this experience. It's not just about the food. It's not just about the ingredients. It's about seeing them preparing in front of you. It's about having this experience that you can really only have here. This is the result of Japanese discipline and commitment to mastery when it comes to something as simple and beautiful as a sandwich. Sarah, today we went to four sandwich locations but I want to know which one you think did it better than the original. I would have to pick the fluffy egg sando. I've had egg sandos many times in Japan and I thought I've had enough but then you have this one and it's like a whole new experience. The fluffiness was just next level. I loved it. It's interesting to get a Japanese person's point of view because I thought by now you might be sick of egg sandwiches but my choice is the same. All the sandwiches we tried were delicious but there's something about that egg sandwich that made it stand up above the rest. It was big. It was fluffy. I think the chef is honestly a genius. I agree. He's the Einstein of eggs. Yeah. If I had one million years I would not have come up with that. It's brilliant. But that is just our opinion, guys. Let me know downstairs in the comments which of these sandwiches you wish you could try from this video and before we go I want to say a huge thank you to Sarah. Actually, you guys can hang out and eat with Sarah too because she's a tour guide here in Tokyo. She does custom tours. So if you'd like to book a tour go right here to her website and if you want to see more of her Japanese food content check out her YouTube channel Tokyo Foodie Sarah. Otherwise, that is it for this one. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you next time. Peace. Bye. You know what? When it comes to sandwiches there's a couple we didn't try yet in here. Oh, which ones? Well, let's go take a look. Okay.