For Thanksgiving 2020 we wanted to make a Japanese meal, so we did. It included this potato salad, a regular salad and tori-no-kara-age chicken, which is always good.
There are many recipes for Japanese potato salad, but this one is base on one from Serious Eats. This is vegan if you make or use vegan mayo.
What’s different about Japanese potato salad is that the potatoes are very coarsely mashed, which makes for a great consistency. Add the Japanese mayo and a little bit of hot mustard, and you’ve got a great side dish.
What you’ll need:
- 1.5 lbs russet potatoes (about 3 large), peeled and quartered
- Kosher salt
- 2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced crosswise
- 2t rice wine vinegar
- 6T homemade or store-bought Japanese mayonnaise, such as Kewpie
- 0.5t Japanese hot mustard (twice that much won’t hurt)
- 1 small carrot, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise
- 0.25 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 scallion, white and light green parts only, chopped
What to do:
Put the potatoes in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Season generously with salt, set over high heat, and bring to a boil. After it boils reduce it to a simmer until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork 15-20 minutes, although that never seems to be enough time. Drain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl to cool.
This next step is really cool: Place the sliced cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle 0.5t salt over them. Mix well, then let stand for about 10 minutes. Drain any accumulated water, then gently squeeze cucumbers with paper towels to blot up any excess liquid. If you do this early and it takes awhile for the potatoes to cool, you’ll have to drain the cucumbers again—no big deal.
In a small bowl, stir together rice vinegar, mayonnaise and hot mustard until thoroughly combined.
Mash the potatoes with a masher or a large fork, allowing some small lumps to remain. Then, add the cucumbers, carrots, onions, eggs, scallions, and mayonnaise mixture. Mix well and season with salt.
Serve right away. The salad can be refrigerated up to one day.
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