Every sandwich works the best with a certain kind of bread that delivers the right texture and flavor to compliment the filling. In tuna salad sandwiches, the filling is soft with a slight crunch from vegetables, so you'd assume that a more crisp, toasted bread would be perfect — but super-soft Japanese milk bread is better.

Milk bread, called "shokupan" in Japanese, is a very fluffy, soft, moist white bread that's the sandwich bread of choice in its home country. Milk bread offers a subtly sweet and buttery flavor with a cloud-like texture, which contrasts with the savoriness of tuna salad for a harmonious union where no flavors or textures are overpowered.

Milk bread can be found at many Asian markets, but if that’s not a convenient option for you, it’s simple to make and worth the effort. There are many more ways to use this pillowy loaf, including searing slices for French toast, using it in bread pudding, or even cutting it into cubes and toasting it for melt-in-your-mouth croutons.