Japanese classic potato salad is made with mashed potatoes, eggs, and some vegetables flavored with Japanese mayonnaise. It is an extremely popular dish that’s easy to make at home and also offered at many restaurants.
Potato salad is probably one of the most well known Japanese dishes. Lots of tourists eat Japanese potato salad in Japan and become big fans of it. Potato salad is actually super easy to cook. The only secret to make the most tasty potato salad is to use Japanese mayonnaise.
What is potato salad
Potato salad is a famous Japanese dish. The main ingredient is potato, seasoned with mayonnaise along with some other seasonings. It is eaten at Izakaya (Japanese style bars), home, ryokan (Japanese style hotels), and so many other places! It is a super cozy side dish.
What is the Origin of Potato Salad?
Is potato salad from Japan? The answer is yes and it is a Japanese side dish, but it is said that the origin is actually from a traditional Russian food, Olivier salad. Potatoes and vegetables are diced, meat and boiled eggs are added, and then mixed with mayonnaise. The name of the dish came from the person who invented it named Olivier, who was a French chef at a restaurant in Moscow.
In Japan, it is said that potato salad was invented and developed at the Imperial Hotel(帝国ホテル) in the Taisho era. It was served as a high-class dish in hotel restaurants, but today, it is a common dish served anywhere.
Tips to Make Delicious Potato Salad
Here are some tips to make classic potato salad
Tip1 : Use Russet Potatoes
The most suitable potatoes for potato salad are Russet Potatoes. Because they have a lot of starch, they absorb the flavors of seasonings easily and have a fluffy texture, making them perfect for potato salad. It is also similar to the type of potato, Danshaku imo that we use for potato salad in Japan.
Tip2 : Use a toothpick to check if the potatoes are cooked
To make sure the potatoes are cooked fully inside, use a skewer or toothpick. If the toothpick goes inside smoothly, then they are cooked.
Tip3 : Mash while warm
Mashing the potatoes while they’re hot keeps the starchy particles from sticking together and leaves a nice and fluffy texture. If you mash after the potatoes cool down, they get sticky. To get a fluffy texture, please mash while they’re hot.
Tip4: Do not mash too much
The classic potato salad is chunky. So mashing the potatoes roughly is best! But, if you like creamy potato salad, then you can mash until your preferred texture.
Tip5: Before adding vegetables, cover with salt
The classic potato salad includes cucumber and carrots. However, these vegetables contain water and it can make the potato salad watery. So before adding your vegetables, I recommend you cover them with salt for 5 minutes to help dehydrate them and then either wash off the salt or leave it.
Ingredients to Make Potato Salad
In this article, I introduce the classic Japanese potato salad recipe. You only need 3 important ingredients and your favorite vegetables (your preference).
- Egg
- cucumber
- carrot
- russet potato
- onion
- Japanese mayonnaise
- black pepper
- rice vinegar
- salt
So simple right? I think the most important ingredient is Japanese mayonnaise. So please make sure you use it. You can find it at Asian grocery stores or Amazon. I recommend Kewpie Mayonnaise.
Similar Recipes to Potato Salad on Oishi Book
- Pumpkin Salad (かぼちゃサラダ)
- Corn Korokke Recipe ( コーンコロッケ – Japanese Croquette)
- Cream Stew Recipe ( クリームシチュー – Japanese white Stew )
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Potato salad
Ingredients
Instructions
- Eggs – Boil water in a medium pot on medium heat. When the water starts boiling, turn the heat to medium-low and add eggs. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Eggs – Prepare an ice water bowl. After 10 minutes, turn the heat off and move the eggs to the bowl of ice water. Leave them for a few minutes.
- Eggs – Remove the shells. It is easy to remove the shells after tapping the eggs on a kitchen counter a few times and breaking the shells into small pieces. Pat with a paper towel to remove water.
- Cucumber – Slice cucumber thinly.
- Cucumber – In a bowl, add the sliced cucumber and add ¼ of salt. Mix everything.*2
- Other vegetables – Cut carrot and onion thinly then cover with cling wrap lightly. Microwave them for 1 minute to make them softer.
- Potatoes – Peel the potatoes and then cut them into about 1 inch cubes.
- Potatoes – Prepare a medium bowl and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Then, add potatoes for at least 10 minutes.*1
- Potatoes – While soaking the potatoes, boil a pot of water. After 10 minutes of soaking the potatoes, remove the water from the bowl. With the water boiling, add the potatoes to the pot for 15 minutes.
- Potatoes – After 15 minutes, try to stick the potatoes with a fork (or toothpick), and if the fork goes in smoothly, the potatoes are ready!
- In a medium or large bowl, add the warm potatoes and mash them. It is OK not to mash until smooth.
- Add eggs, salt, and rice vinegar in the bowl and mash them.
- Add the onion, carrot, cucumber in the bowl. Mix them by folding them in so you don't smash them.
- Add Japanese mayonnaise and mix thoroughly.
- Lastly, add black paper to finish!
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