The sando arrived in Western food culture the way most Japanese food trends do: slowly, then explosively. First came the katsu sando — a panko-breaded pork cutlet on crustless milk bread — appearing on Instagram feeds in 2020, then as a single item on upscale menus, then as the central concept of dedicated sando shops from Brooklyn to East London.
By 2026, the sando has escaped its niche. There are now an estimated 340 dedicated Japanese sandwich shops operating outside Japan, compared to fewer than 40 in 2020. The format has proven adaptable beyond its origins: tamago (egg salad) sandos, fruit sandos with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, wagyu beef sandos, and even dessert sandos are now findable in any major Western city.
The key ingredient driving the trend is shokupan — Japanese milk bread, made with a tangzhong (cooked flour-water paste) that gives it a cloud-soft texture that Western sandwich bread cannot match. Several US bakeries now produce it commercially, and home baking guides for shokupan have amassed millions of views on YouTube.
"The Japanese approach to sandwiches is that precision matters," said a chef at a sando restaurant in Los Angeles. "Every component is considered. The crust is removed. The ratio of filling to bread is exact. Americans are responding to that level of care in a way they haven't before." The sando's rise may be the most significant shift in sandwich culture since the Cubano crossed into mainstream American consciousness in the early 2000s.
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This story was reported by Bon Appétit. Read the original article →