Kewpie mayo's premium price and disturbing packaging had previously prevented me from buying it, but Grub Street blogger Ian Knauer's Flavor Ammo post about it convinced me to give the baby-themed mayo a chance.
For the unfamiliar, Kewpie is a popular Japanese brand of mayonnaise that's often found in gourmet specialty stores, such as Eastern District in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's also currently available for 10 bucks on Amazon. The package features a standing baby that could easily serve as a homicidal doll in a horror story. Adding to the unease brought about by the package, the mayonnaise comes in a bag. I can't be alone in my belief that a bag is a completely inappropriate container for mayonnaise.
Because of these setbacks, Kewpie mayo takes some getting used to. Now that I've come to terms with the unsettling packaging, I've probably topped about a dozen sandwiches with the stuff now. Its performance has by and large been excellent. At worst, the mayo's presence has gotten lost among the other sandwich toppings. At best — and this has been the norm — the mayo elevates even boring sandwiches to lofty heights.
So far, my favorite sandwich combo has been a Boar's Head Salsalito turkey sandwich with Muenster cheese, Kraft yellow mustard and the Kewpie mayo on Stroemann potato bread. The bite of the mustard and the spicy turkey helped to cut and compliment the savory mayo and cheese. This came as no surprise given mustard and mayo's long standing partnership. Another good combo was a hot breaded chicken patty with Kewpie mayo and Bulldog tonkatsu sauce on a white hamburger bun.
The mayo didn't fare quite as well on ham or pastrami sandwiches, but I don't usually put mayo on those anyway. I only tried the combo for the sake of science, and because the packaging recommended using the mayo within a month of opening it.
That last point is worth noting — I tried to use it all up within a month, but I'm just one man and my girlfriend doesn't like mayo. I'm guessing even the most ardent mayo eater would have a hard time taking down all 17.64 ounces that quickly. I bought the Kewpie mayo about two months ago, so I'm living on borrowed time now. I haven't noticed any deterioration in its quality, so I'm going to keep using it anyway. I'll update the blog if it ends up poisoning me.
For reasons I won't attempt to try to understand, there seems to be a fascination with Kewpie dolls in Japanese culture. Just a quick search produced the following horrifying videos:
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Side note: Can anyone explain what's going on with the doll's shoulders? Is she wearing earrings?