How To Make Potato Salad Japanese Style

[Camila Fonua]

Potatoand egg salad is a classic comfort food, and my version combines the creamy texture of potatoes with crunchy cucumbers and savory ham to level up the classic potato salad recipe. Adding boiled eggs not only boosts the protein but also makes it hearty enough to enjoy on its own or sandwiched between slices of bread. Whether you're looking for a perfect summer picnic dish or a versatile side, this homemade potato salad with eggs will not disappoint.

You first want to wash and peel your spuds (you can leave them unpeeled if you like potato skins). Be sure to keep them submerged in water, so they don't discolor. Cut them into -inch sized pieces. They don't have to be perfect since they're going to get mashed up, but you want to get them to roughly the same size, so they cook through at the same rate. Put the cut potatoes into a pot of cold water.

When the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat to maintain a simmer and cook the spuds until they are fall-apart tender. This will take about fifteen minutes. Slightly overcooking the potatoes is the key to a creamy potato salad, but be careful you don't have the heat up too high, or they'll disintegrate in the boiling water.

While they cook, you want to slice up your cucumbers, chop the onions, and salt them. This will cause them to release excess moisture, keeping your salad from getting watery. It will also mellow out the onions' pungency.

When the spuds are tender, drain them well and then add them to the dressing while still hot. Now, you can mix this together. If you've cooked the spuds long enough, they should partially dissolve, leaving small chunks behind. Be careful not to mash the carrots.

By now, your cucumbers and onions should have released a bit of water, but you want to release even more liquid by massaging them with your hand. Then, you can gather them up and squeeze them to remove as much liquid from them as possible.

I made it with Polish mayonnaise as its much more rich than the other western ones and still, it tasted amazing! I did add an extra tiny splash of rice vinegar like you said. I really enjoy your blogs about each recipe as well. Love the humour and knowledge. Thank you for your effort ありがとうございました

Hi Gi, yes it can be stored in the fridge for a day or two but the acidity in the dressing will change the color of the cucumbers, so you may want to consider keeping them separate and mixing them in when you're ready to serve it. Also, I personally prefer potato salad at room temperature so if it were me I'd take the potato salad out of the fridge half an hour before serving it to let it come up to room temperature, but this just a personal preference.

Hi Arlene, there are plant-based hams, but in this case there's enough going on that you don't have to add the ham, same goes for the eggs. That being said if you want to add more protein, you can add boil some silken tofu with the potato and carrots (add it in at the last minute). This removes any excess water, and you can mash it together with the potatoes.

And as always, her food was always a hit among friends and relatives. Even my husband, Ben, used to ask her to make it whenever we went to Japan for a visit. After so many years of devouring her potato salad, I finally asked her to show me how to make it so I could share the recipe with you.

Great salad. I thought the sake and so much ginger would throw it off, but it has a nice delicate flavor and I was pleasantly impressed. I will be making this for an Asian themed dinner for our family reunion. Thanks so much for this recipe.

Japanese potato salad is like semi-mashed potatoes mixed with vegetables, ham, egg and mayonnaise. Small pieces of carrots, cucumbers, onions, ham and eggs make it visually appealing. It is not too creamy, not too rich, but flavoursome. What makes this potato salad stand out is the mushy texture and the famous Japanese mayonnaise, Kewpie mayonnaise.

I have not tried all the potato salads that exist in the world but I am almost certain that every single cuisine has a potato salad unique to its region. And Japan is no exception. Just like most other Japanese dishes, the Japanese version of potato salad does not use cream at all but it does use the reputable kyuupee mayonehzu (キユーピーマヨネーズ, Kewpie mayonnaise).

There are many variations to the Japanese potato salad and I sometimes change ingredients, too. The basic ingredients are potatoes (of course), sliced carrots, sliced cucumbers, sliced onion, and sliced ham. This is what I use but I sometimes add boiled eggs for extra colour. And this is the recipe that I am introducing today.

As you can see in the photo, the potatoes are semi-mashed and they do not retain the cubed shape like many other potato salads. Naturally, the suitable potatoes for the Japanese potato salad are those suitable for mashed potatoes, i.e. starchy potatoes such as Russet (common in the US), King Edward or Red Delight. But all-purpose potatoes like Golden Delight, Coliban, Red Rascal and Sebago (popular in Australia) still work. I actually used Sebago. Starchy potatoes become nice and fluffy when cooked and mashed.

The professional method of boiling potatoes is to boil them whole with the skin on. Potatoes boiled with the skin on are fluffier and less watery, which is the key to the Japanese potato salad. But the down side of this method is that they take a long time to cook and peeling the skin while still hot is a bit of a challenge.

The least number of ingredients of the potato salad I have seen was 4, not including dressing. Potatoes, sliced carrots, cucumbers and onions. So these are the minimum ingredients to make Japanese potato salad. I guess the basic colours are there if you serve with a green salad leaf or a parsley sprig.

Thinly sliced ham is very common in the salad and my memory of potato salad always had sliced ham in it. Boiled egg cut into tiny diced pieces are often added, too. Sometimes you will find corn kernels in it. Instead of ham, prawns could be used but I would not call it a very traditional Japanese potato salad.

Kewpie mayonnaise is used worldwide nowadays, even at posh restaurants. At regular sushi restaurants, or at sushi train shops, Kewpie mayonnaise is heavily used, although I never even attempt to eat it because it is not real sushi according to my dictionary.

I hardly use mayonnaise in my dishes but I like Kewpie mayonnaise better than Western style mayonnaise. I find that the Western style mayonnaise has stronger acidity and is sometimes oilier. But it is just me who has strong Japanese taste buds.

In addition to Kewpie mayonnaise, vinegar could be added to the potato salad to give a bit of acidity and moisture. But I only use mayonnaise with Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Dijon mustard is a new addition to this recipe as I hardly used Dijon mustard when I was in Japan but I think it works very well.

1. Starchy potatoes are best suited to this dish as they become nice and fluffy when cooked. The best to use are Russet (common in the US), Dutch Creams, King Edward or Red Delight. However, great all-purpose potatoes like Golden Delight, Coliban, Red Rascal and Sebago (popular in Australia) still work great.

In this case, I would strongly recommend that you dry the boiled potatoes to remove excess moisture by placing the drained potatoes back in the saucepan over high heat and shaking the pan for 15 -20 seconds. The moisture should evaporate and the corners of the potatoes will start breaking and become mushy. Be careful not to burn the potatoes.

6. If you have an egg slicer, you can dice them easily. Place the egg long ways (this is not the standard egg slicer is designed to place the egg) and slice. Holding the egg together, turn the egg 90 degrees (the egg is still placed long ways). Sice again. Then rotate the egg 90 degrees sideways and slice.

Thank you so much for ALL of your wonderful recipes.

I truly enjoy all the work and detail you put into each one.

It is a fascinating look into the culture of Japan like no one else does.

It has really helped me explore the many Asian Grocery stores we have here in Toronto

with purchasing confidence!

When I was stationed in Yokosuka, I asked Japanese friends how they got the texture of mashy for the potato salad. First, they steamed the potatoes, not boiled them. Second, they used their hands to crush the potatoes! They no diced the potatoes. So much easier than dicing sticky, starchy potatoes! Also, when making for a large crowd, they would add cooked macaroni pasta. Friends said it made for more food, but not more work. Now sometimes when I have only some pasta salad and some potato salad, I mix together like they did. American friends wondered why, but after tasting, they know. Is like the best of both worlds!

Hi Michelle, I have not posted a recipe for mayonnaise which is similar to Kewpie mayonnaise. Kewpie is the company and brand name for the Japanese mayonnaise that you can buy at supermarkets and Japanese/Asian grocery stores.

Summertime means potato salad time. But after so many cookouts and picnics, you've probably had your fair share of classic potato salad. It might just be time to try something different, something fun, something like Catherine Brookes' Japanese-style potato salad. This recipe adds some distinct flavor to your big cookout.

Among the assortment of lip-smacking ingredients in this potato salad is rice wine vinegar. "It gives the potato salad an extra bit of tang and sourness that cuts through the creaminess," explains Brookes. You also have ham, eggs, and veggies to make this a rather filling side that pops with flavor.

While you can experiment with all sorts of ingredients in your potato salad, you owe it to yourself and your cookout crew to dial in this recipe and make it a standard for every group gathering. Or you can just make it for yourself and turn on all your tastebuds.

The Japanese-style potato salad brings a lot of contrasting flavors to the beloved dish. To start, you need 2 large potatoes (obviously). Also going into this salad are some cucumber, carrot, green onions, hard-boiled eggs, and some sliced ham. To tie everything together, you need some Kewpie mayonnaise, rice vinegar, and salt.

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