ランチパック - ツナマヨネーズ

If it looks like a pillow, is it comfort food? These Lunchpack* sandwiches are a ubiquitous konbini treat. Found in the section with other bread products, these strange little pillows are usually two to a pack. Crustless** shokupan (Japanese white bread) with fillings savory or sweet is crimped on all sides. They remind me of the old carny treat, the spaceburger – a sloppy Joe mixture, dumped onto a hamburger bun and then smashed into a device that cooked, crimped, and compressed the whole mess into a flying saucer shape***. Imagine a spongy ravioli filled with such fillings as strawberry jam and cream, macha paste, chicken salad, katsu, or in the case of the item sampled, ツナマヨネーズ (tuna mayonnaise) – and you’ve got the Lunchpack sandwich. The tuna salad in question was totally serviceable, with mild pickle and onion overtones in a very mayonnaise-y tuna schmear. Definitely in the kids’ food genre - hand-holdable, undemanding on the tastebuds, gooey on the inside yet soft and dry on the outside. Daily Yamazaki boasts having introduced (at last count) 266 flavors of these little sandwiches. Wow!

NV

* Lunchpack is the brand name for the ones produced by Daily Yamazaki.
** The sealed crustless sandwich was at the center of a specious patent infringement suit brought on by Smuckers Corporation in regard to their "Uncrustable "sandwich.
* **There’s still a spaceburger restaurant/stand in Pocatello, ID.