Japanese egg sando

Method

• step 1

  For the pickled cucumber, sprinkle the slices of cucumber with 1 tsp salt, set aside for 5 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Mix together the vinegar and sugar with a pinch of salt, then add the cucumber and toss well. Chill for at least 30 minutes but preferably 2-3 hours. Drain off any liquid and mix with the toasted sesame seeds.

• step 2

  Bring a large pan of water to the boil and carefully lower in the large eggs and boil for 8 minutes. Transfer them to a bowl of ice-cold water and set aside to cool. If you want to use the quail’s eggs as well, boil for 2¹/2 minutes, then refresh in ice-cold water – this will give a soft boiled egg.

• step 3

  Peel the large eggs and use your fingers to split them open – remove the yolks and put these into a separate bowl. Use a fork to thoroughly mash the yolks. Add 3 tbsp of the mayonnaise and use a spatula to mix together until smooth and uniform. Roughly chop the large egg whites, add to the yolks with the remaining mayonnaise and mix to combine. Season with a little pepper and taste before adding any extra salt – Japanese mayo is a little more seasoned so may not need any extra salt. Peel and quarter the quail’s eggs, and put to one side.

• step 4

  To assemble, use a serrated knife to remove the crusts from the bread, then cut each slice into three fingers so you have 30 rectangles. Spread the egg mixture over 15 of them, placing a ¹/4 quail’s egg onto the middle of each piece. Top with a few slices of cucumber and sandwich together with a second slice of bread.