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Japanese potato salad
Poteto sarada (ポテトサラダ): creamy half-mashed potato salad with cucumber and carrot
Every konbini, school lunch tray and izakaya menu in Japan seems to have its own potato salad, a Western-born dish the Japanese have made entirely theirs. The potatoes are half-mashed so the salad is creamy with chunks, then folded with salted cucumber, carrot, onion and a rich, slightly tangy Japanese-style mayonnaise; it is often served as a side to tonkatsu or packed in a bento. Japanese mayonnaise is made with egg yolk, so this contains egg. The common mistake is mixing in the mayonnaise while the potatoes are hot, which makes it oily and gluey; season with vinegar while hot, then cool before the mayo goes in. Chef's tip: salt the cucumber and onion and squeeze them hard, so they stay crisp and don't water down the salad.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅛ lb potatoesfloury, such as Maris Piper, peeled and cut into 4 cm chunks
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ cucumberthinly sliced into rounds
- ¼ onionvery thinly sliced
- ¾ tsp saltdivided
- ½ carrotthinly sliced into quarter-moons
- 1 hard-boiled egg (optional)chopped
For the dressing
- 5 tbsp Japanese-style mayonnaisecontains egg
- ¼ tsp white pepper
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Method
0/6 doneStep 3: Drain the potatoes, return them to the hot pan over a low heat and shake for 1 minute to steam off moisture, until they look dry and floury.
1 minStep 4: Sprinkle over 1 tbsp rice vinegar and mash roughly with a fork, leaving some lumps. Spread out and cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Step 5: Squeeze the cucumber and onion firmly in your hands to remove as much liquid as possible.
Step 6: Fold the cucumber, onion, carrot, 1 hard-boiled egg, 5 tbsp Japanese-style mayonnaise, ½ tsp English or Japanese mustard and ¼ tsp white pepper into the cooled potatoes. Taste for salt. Serve cool; it keeps for 2 days in the fridge.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does japanese potato salad take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of rice vinegar?
- Cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar, same amount.
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