JAPANESE POTATO SALAD
ポテトサラダ
This recipe is quite flexible! As it is considered a “made from the heart” side dish, each person and izakaya have different takes on what they put into it. Here is a list of classic mix in ingredients, feel free to pick what suites your taste.
Aim for a balance of the following flavours: sweet, smoky, crunchy.
Japanese Potato Salad ポテトサラダ is a common side dish found in any izakaya or grocery store in Japan. This simple recipe has tips on how to get thin crunchy vegetables, how to make perfectly cooked hardboiled eggs, and an explanation of Japanese vinegar.
INGREDIENTS
Potato Salad
2 large potatoes (about 500g)
2 eggs
1 carrot (2 inches, 1/4 cup)
1 medium cucumber (1/2 large)
1 tsp salt (for removing moisture from the cucumber and carrot)
¼ cup canned corn
2 slices ham
Optional: fried onions for plating
Seasonings
1-2 Tbsp Japanese sushi / rice vinegar* (to taste)
Finely ground white pepper and sea salt (to taste)
4 Tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise (to taste)
*Make your own Japanese style vinegar (approx 1 tbsp)
3/4 Tbsp White vinegar
1/4 Tsp Sugar of your choice
1/4 Tsp water (dilute to taste)
PREPARE THE VEGETABLES
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Wash and peel the carrot.
PRO TIP: You might only need to use 2 or 3 inches of the carrot for the recipe but keep the carrot whole to make slicing easier and safer.
Wash and peel the cucumber.
PRO TIP: Taste your cucumber and decide how much skin you need to peel.
For Japanese style cucumber cuts, peel small, spaced out strips.
If your cucumber skin is tough to chew, just peel the entire cucumber.
Slice the cucumber and carrot into very thin discs, I use a mandoline slicer.
Salt the carrot and cucumber with 1 tsp of salt, mixing them gently to distribute the salt, and leave them in a colander or drainable container for 10/15 minutes.
COOK THE POTATOES
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Peel and chop the potatoes into rough cubes and put into a pot with COLD salted water.
PRO TIP: If the water doesn’t taste salty, add more salt. Think ocean water salty.
Bring the potatoes to a boil. Only once the pans starts boiling, set a timer for 10 minutes.
PRO TIP: This cold-to-boiling method allows the potatoes to cook evenly. If you boil the water first and then put the potatoes in, the outside of the potato cooks faster than the inside, resulting in an uneven texture.
After 10 minutes, poke a potato with a knife or chopstick to see if it is soft enough. You might need 2-4 more minutes.
Once the potatoes are soft enough to mash, drain the water, and put the potatoes back into the same pot with a lid.
Give them a nice shaky-shake, and remove the lid to help the extra moisture and steam escape.
Lightly mash the potatoes using a spoon, we want both smooth and chunky textures.
Add the vinegar while the potatoes are still hot! Start with 1 tsp, mix, and then taste. I used 1 tbsp, but add up to 2 tbsp of Japanese vinegar.
Let the potatoes cool down in a big mixing bowl while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
WARNING: MIXING MAYO INTO HOT, VINEGAR POTATOES CAN CURDLE!
BOIL & MASH THE EGGS
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Add 1-2 eggs to a pot of cold water with a lid. Bring to a boil, and without removing the lid, turn off the heat. Set at 12 minute timer.
PRO TIP: Cooking the eggs using this method keeps the yoke from becoming chalky and dry, and the white being rubbery.
When the timer goes off, put the eggs into a jug of ice water, the colder the better! This stops the cooking process and can help peeling.
Once the eggs feel cold to the touch, peel the eggs.
Gently mash to desired consistency. And keep in mind, you will mash them again when mixing into the potato salad.
PREP HAM, CORN, & VEG
Slice the ham into thin strips, and remove any tough edges. I’m using Black Forest ham, a classic deli sandwich ham.
Drain and rinse the canned corn, and set aside.
Gently squeeze the remaining liquid from the salted carrots and cucumbers. Rinse off the salt, and then squeeze one last time.
Discard the salty green water!
ASSEMBLE POTATO SALAD
Add the eggs to the potatoes, and gently mix in. At this point you can mash the egg to the desired consistency.
Add the cucumber, carrots, corn, and ham to the mixture and gentle fold the ingredients together.
Add a sprinkle of finely ground pepper and a sprinkle of salt, then add the kewpie mayo.
Start with 4 tbsp, mix gently, and then add more to taste.
Continue to fold mixture until all ingredients are evenly distributed and test for your desired texture and taste.
Traditionally, it is served piled in a small bowl and enjoyed as a side dish accompanying other tiny bites.
Best enjoyed with a glass of cold beer, or with a cold glass of hojicha tea.
TIPS & TRICKS
Additional toppings
Once you’ve created your potato salad, adding dry toppings such as dried fried onions or sprinkles of katsuobushi (dried bonito tuna) can add a nice extra crunch and smoky hit to the dish.
Keep it consistent
Try not to over mayo your potato salad, the consistency should be creamy enough that all the ingredients can hold together on a spoon, but not so drenched in mayo that it tastes too rich and wet.
Serving it Up:
You can make your potato salad the day before you plan to eat it, just make sure to taste it, and add an extra squeeze of mayo before serving if the salad consistency seems dry.
POTATO SALAD SANDWICH RECIPE:
You can use the potato salad to make another Japanese comfort food, the “potato salad sando”.
Cut the crust off of two slices of white bread.
Take two washed and dried leaves of romaine lettuce, and place on one side of the bread.
Pile the potato salad onto the lettuce.
Close the sandwich and cut on an angle.
