In an earlier post I extolled the virtues of the 100 yen store in general terms. I promised detailed follow-up, and here it is! And it’s egg-sactly what you all expected for sure: a discussion of the many egg accoutrements that you never knew you needed.

If I asked any of you to describe typical Japanese foods, I would likely hear expected answers. Sushi. Ramen. Tempura. Maybe the more knowledgeable members of the audience would offer tonkatsu, or even okonomiyaki. But unless you’ve been here you would probably never know how insanely awesome Japanese eggs are. You know that incredibly delicious, dark orange, creamy-yolked wonder that you bought at the farmers’ market in Brooklyn years ago for about $12,000 a dozen and still remember? That’s any egg in Japan, in any grocery or convenience store, for about 200 yen (about $1.80 USD) for ten eggs. Any time. The eggs are amazing and appear at pretty much any meal.

Awesome eggs mean incredible tools for cooking said eggs. Most of these fall under the You Never Knew You Needed These. And frankly you still probably don’t. But why should we let practicality stand in the way when only 100 yen (108 with tax) separate you from the following?

(And did you catch those horrible egg-y puns yet?!? Because I can keep them coming. All. Night.)

A recent jaunt to my local neighborhood The Daiso 100 yen store revealed the following egg cooking tools. You’ll laugh. You’ll sputter, “Who needs that?”. And then you’ll see the one item that makes you think hmm….maybe I need that after all……

Without further ado, I present the following.

Stuff That You Probably Already Have

OK, stuff that I definitely have. Like the Eggshell Opener for enjoying the perfect soft-boiled egg in its shell (nested in a glass chicken-shaped egg holder, because that’s how I roll). Yes, I’m insane.

And the Egg Slicer -Square-. Because, you know, egg salad, and kanapki (Polish canapes) that you have at every Polish event with a half-slice of rye bread, a smear of butter,  ham, tomato, pickle, and a slice of hard boiled egg.

And Everything Else

The Three-Way Egg Slicer, when the Egg Cutter -Square- just won’t cut it (ha!).

The Boiled Egg Case. For carrying boiled eggs from pot to your lunchbox, as one does.

The Boiled Egg mold, for shaping just-boiled and peeled eggs into adorable creatures for bento lunches.

The Egg Timer, which sits in the pot with the eggs and changes color when the egg reaches the right doneness.

The Egg Separator, because apparently using one’s fingers won’t do for Some People.

The Microwave Onsen (Hot Spring) Egg Maker for the softer-than-a-soft-boiled egg.

The Microwave Thin Omelet [Maker]. Presumable for [making] thin omelets in the microwave.

A second/different Microwave Thin Omelet cooker, just in case the first one didn’t work out.

The Heart Type Egg Frame, for those times when you really need a heart-shaped sunny side up egg but the heart-shaped cookie cutter had a rough night and can’t make it for breakfast.

The Egg Hole Puncher. For those of you who don’t know, hard- or soft-boiled eggs are much easier to peel if you first poke a hole in the fat end of the egg, where the air bubble hangs out. I do this with a simple thumb tack, which works just fine. But the Egg Hole Puncher keeps calling my name; I may end up owning one soon, just because.

And the ultimate WHAAAAT?!? egg contraption, The Boiled Egg Hole Holder. Which I’m pretty sure holds the egg and not the egg hole–but really you never know. As the diagram on the package helpfully shows, you PUSH the egg onto the pin, then lower the egg into its boiling water bath. A hole puncher *and* egg rack, all in one?!? Must….resist…..