Japanese Potato Salad

Try this Japanese potato salad and we promise you won’t be disappointed. Unlike the potato salads we know and love in the UK, Japanese potato salad contains other exciting vegetables and proteins (ham, egg, cucumber, carrot), as well as an umami-rich dressing full of Japanese spices (the most important of which is kewpie mayonnaise). . Make this salad for parties or as a side dish for a bento lunch.

4 potatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs
2 slices of cooked ham
1/4 cucumber
1/2 carrot
1/2 onion dressing
3 teaspoons of rice or sushi vinegar
1 teaspoon of dashi
6 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of white sesame
a pinch of shichimi togarashi (optional)

Start by peeling the potatoes before cutting them into smaller pieces and rinsing them with water. Place them in a pan with enough water to cover the potatoes and cook until they are soft.

Now drain the potatoes and cover them with dashi, making sure they are well distributed. Once done, mash the potatoes roughly with a fork, we want the mixture to remain lumpy. Place them back on the hob and add the rice or sushi vinegar. This method is better if the potato absorbs the vinegar flavor. Just let them cook for one or two minutes, stirring, then remove them from the heat and place them in the fridge to cool.

Now let’s move on to the remaining ingredients. Peel and chop the carrot and onion, then cut them together with the cucumber into small slices. Cut the hard-boiled eggs and ham into small pieces; then mix all the ingredients together with the potato in a bowl with a pinch of salt, delicious QP mayonnaise and optional spicy shichimi togarashi. Decorate with sesame seeds and it’s ready.

Tips and information
– Spread the potato salad between two slices of bread to make a nice sarnie potato salad, large in Japan.

– Why not try the salad in a hot dog bun, which is also popular in Japan?