Japanese Potato Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Japanese potato salad made of? ›

German and American potato salad recipes are often vinegar-based with chunks of waxy potatoes and ingredients like mustard, bacon, and fresh parsley or chives. But in the Japanese version, you will find a variety of colorful ingredients like carrots, corn, hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, and ham.

The key difference between the two mayonnaises is that Japanese mayo is made with egg yolks only, while American mayo typically includes whole eggs. Using only egg yolks results in a mayonnaise that's richer and more custard-like in texture and gives Japanese mayo its characteristic golden glow.

Prepping and cooking potatoes. To peel or not to peel? If you'd like to add a little extra color and texture to your salad, leave the skins on. Just be sure to scrub them thoroughly with a vegetable brush before you cook them.

Kewpie mayo is made with pasteurized egg yolks, vinegar (a proprietary blend that's said to contain apple cider and rice vinegars, and possibly malt vinegar), vegetable oil and salt. In Japan, it also contains monosodium glutamate (aka MSG).

In Japan today, two types of Western-style potatoes are regularly enjoyed: mékuin (May Queen) and danshaku (“Baron”).

Add sugar and rice vinegar in a pinch to make Kewpie mayo with regular mayo. It will not be the same as it lacks the rich egg yolk flavors, but this is the closest substitution. For 1 cup of American mayonnaise (I use Best Foods/Hellmann's Mayonnaise), add 2 Tbsp rice vinegar and 1 Tbsp sugar.

In Japan, mayonnaise is made with only the yolks, as opposed to American mayonnaise which typically uses the whole egg. The egg yolks are what gives Kewpie mayonnaise its deeper yellow color and its fuller, almost custard-like texture. In addition to superior eggs, Kewpie also uses a different vinegar in its recipe.

To make a shortcut Kewpie mayonnaise substitute, combine 1 cup mayonnaise with two tablespoons of rice vinegar and one tablespoon of granulated sugar, either using a whisk or a blender.

To keep your salad from falling apart into mush, it's important to use the best potatoes for potato salad. Skip the russet potatoes and use a waxy variety instead, like Yukon gold, red potatoes or fingerlings.

Always cut up the potatoes into a dice before boiling them. If you boil the potatoes whole, the exterior of the potato will get too soft and crumbly before the interior has a chance to cook through. Best potatoes for potato salad? Russet, Yukon Gold, or red potatoes (new potatoes) are all excellent for potato salad.

Should you salt the water when boiling potatoes for potato salad? ›

The vegetable absorbs the water it's cooked in, so if you just boil them in unseasoned water, you'll end up with tasteless taters that no amount of mayo, herbs, or bacon bits can help. Adding salt to the water seasons them from the inside out so you'll be able to start with the perfect potatoes for your dish.

They're so naturally sweet—more of an earthy, chestnut-y sweetness rather than a sugary one—that the only adornment you need is a sprinkle of flaky salt, though I'm always even happier with a generous sprinkling of gomasio.

Japanese sweet potatoes are rich in healthy minerals, especially potassium, copper and manganese. The amounts, per potato, are as follows: ‌Potassium‌: 940 milligrams. ‌Calcium‌: 80 milligrams.

Murasaki sweet potatoes are characterized by their deep purple skin and creamy white flesh, as well as their extra starchy texture. Although they're sometimes labeled "Japanese sweet potatoes," Murasaki sweet potatoes were actually developed in Louisiana.

Because they're a little drier and starchier than other varieties, Japanese sweet potatoes have a distinct creaminess and a fluffier, lighter texture, a little more like a regular baking potato than a standard orange sweet potato. They also have a particularly sweet yet, subtle flavor compared to many other varieties.