America’s favorite potluck dish gets a makeover in this Japanese Potato Salad recipe with tangy Kewpie mayo, crunchy carrots, cool cucumbers, and meaty, fatty ham.
This Japanese potato salad recipe has a velvety, fluffy, and smooth texture that’s so different from the typical American potato salad.
The key to this texture is using Russet potatoes, which are more starchy and have less moisture, rather than the typical Yukon Golds used in American potato salads.
What is Japanese Potato Salad?
It’s potato salad, but from Japan!
Japanese Potato Salad is based on its Western and German cousins and was first made in Japan in the late 1800s.
Over the past 100 years, the Japanese have adopted a bunch of Western dishes to Japanese tastes. In fact, there’s a whole class of Japanese cuisine called yōshoku that are Japanese adaptations of Western dishes. Think spaghettis with shiso and fish roe, sandwiches with katsu, Japanese-style hamburger steaks, and this creamy potato salad.
What makes it different?
Russet potatoes instead of Yukon Golds. Western versions of potato salad use Yukon Gold potatoes. This version uses Russets, resulting in a fluffier, more velvety consistency. The potatoes are mashed until almost smooth, giving this salad a texture totally unlike typical American potato salads.
Kewpie mayo instead of Hellman’s. I (and many, many others) LOVE Kewpie mayo. It’s brighter, it’s tangier, and it has more depth than your average Hellman’s mayo. Adding Kewpie mayo to your Japanese potato salad will give it that unmistakable Japanese flair.
Vegetables make it fresh and crunchy. Fresh, thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers plus sweet bites of corn add contrasting dimensions of freshness and crunchiness to this potato salad.
Ham. Meaty, fatty ham rounds out the flavor and adds some heft.
How to make Japanese Potato Salad
- Peel and then boil the potatoes. Peel the potatoes, chop them into even 2”-3” slices, and add them to a pot of cool water. Bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium-high and simmer the potatoes for 20 minutes or until done.
- Hardboil an egg. While you’re potatoes are boiling, add an egg to a small saucepan filled with cool water. Bring the egg to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 12 minutes. Once done, shock the egg in cold water to cool it down. Peel the egg and then roughly chop it.
- Prep the carrots, cucumbers. Peel the carrots and cucumbers. Slice them super thinly. Mix them with 2 tsp of kosher salt and set them aside for 10-15 minutes. Once rested, rinse them under water to remove the salt. Then use your hands to squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can.
- Squeeze the corn. Use your hands to squeeze out the corn’s moisture.
- Chop the ham. Chop the ham into even, bite-sized pieces.
- Mash the potatoes. Once the potatoes are done cooking, and while still warm, mash them until they’re almost smooth and there’s just a few grape-sized pieces left. Add the rice vinegar and stir. Let the potatoes cool.
- Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Once the potatoes are cool, add the Kewpie mayo, all vegetables, ham, and egg to the potatoes. Mix thoroughly.
- Chill and serve. Chill the potatoes in the fridge and then serve.
Four tips for making Japanese Potato Salad
- Use Russet potatoes. Russet potatoes are key to this recipe. Sure, you could substitute for another potato. But if you do, the texture will be so much different and you won’t have that fresh-from-Tokyo texture.
- Mash the potatoes well. The texture of Japanese potato salad is smoother than Western potato salads. Mash your potatoes until they’re almost completely creamy and there’s just a few lumps left. Once they’re mashed to this consistency, stop mashing or they’ll turn gummy.
- Slice the carrots and cucumbers thinly. Slice your vegetables as thinly as possible. Use a mandoline if you have one.
- Salt the carrots and cucumbers and then squeeze them out. We gotta admit that this will take you a bit more time. But it’s sooo worth it. Drawing the moisture from the vegetables keeps them crisp and crunchy, which is such an important part of this dish.
Ingredients
Russet potatoes. Western versions of potato salad use Yukon potatoes. This version uses Russet potatoes, resulting in a smoother, fluffier consistency. The potatoes are mashed until almost smooth, giving this salad a consistency totally unlike typical American potato salads.
Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar adds a pop of acidity that brings a unique brightness to the potato salad. It’s subtle, but adds to the Japanese vibes.
Kewpie mayo. I (and many, many others) LOVE Kewpie mayo. It’s brighter, it’s tangier, and it has more depth than your average Hellman’s mayo. Adding Kewpie mayo to your Japanese potato salad will give it that unmistakable Japanese flair.
Carrots, cucumbers and corn. Vegetables add contrasting dimensions of freshness and crunchiness to this potato salad.
Ham. Adding some meaty, fatty ham to your potatoes rounds out the flavor and adds some heft.
Hardboiled egg. Go in with even more protein by adding a crumbled hardboiled egg.
What kind of potatoes do I need?
Russets!
Russet potatoes are the foundation of this recipe and the reason we get that fluffy, smooth texture.
Sure, you could substitute for another potato. But if you do, the texture will be so much different and you won’t have that real Tokyo texture.
Can I make Japanese Potato Salad without Japanese mayonnaise?
If you can’t find Japanese Kewpie mayo, then you can make an easy substitute.
It won’t be quite as good since it’s missing that MSG. But it’ll do and your potato salad will still turn out great.
Kewpie mayo substitute:
- ½ cup North American mayo
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well-combined and smooth.
And if you happen to have MSG handy, add a pinch in 🙂
How do I prepare the carrots and cucumbers?
Follow this advice and I promise you’ll get super crunchy vegetables.
The first thing you’ll want to do is slice your vegetables super thinly. The thinner the better. You can use a mandoline if you have one, to make the process go faster.
If your vegetables aren’t sliced thinly enough, you won’t be able to fully pull the moisture from them, and you’ll end up with soggy carrots and cucumbers. But we want crispy ones.
After you thinly slice the vegetables, thoroughly mix them with 2 tsp of kosher salt. Set the vegetables aside on a plate for 10-15 minutes.
Once they’ve rested, rinse them under water to remove the salt.
Then use your hands to squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Keep squeezing a few times until you’ve gotten as much moisture out as possible.
Once you’ve removed the moisture, you’re all done and ready to add them to your potatoes.
How to store Japanese Potato Salad?
Store the potato salad in a tightly fitted container in the refrigerator.
It’ll last for around 2-3 days.
What else can I add to Japanese potato salad?
One of the great things about potato salad is that it’s so easy to customize.
Red onions or scallions. For a more oniony bite, add in some thinly sliced red onions or scallions. Red onions are typically more popular than scallions in a Japanese potato salad, but either are great.
Japanese spicy mustard (Karashi). Add 1-2 tsp of the mustard to give the dish a pungent and spicy kick. A little goes a long way, so don’t overdo it.
Apple or Asian Pear. Yep, fruit. Apples or Asian Pears will add even more crunch and more sweetness. If adding fruit, I’d remove the corn as the salad might become too sweet.
Peas. Frozen peas instead of corn would provide a less sweet, more vegetal flavor to the dish.
What to serve with Japanese potato salad
Serving Japanese potato salad with katsu is a classic combination. Try it with this menchi katsu (breaded and deep-fried beef and pork cutlets).
Japanese Potato Salad with Carrots, Cucumber and Kewpie
Ingredients
- 2 Russet potatoes (about 2 lbs)
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 English cucumber
- 1/2 small carrot
- 1/4 cup corn canned or frozen, thawed
- 2 slices deli-style ham
- 1/2 cup Kewpie mayo
Instructions
Make the potatoes and hardboiled egg
- Peel the potatoes and chop them into even 2”-3” slices.
- Add the potatoes to a pot of cool, generously-salted water and bring them to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, turn the heat to medium-high and simmer the potatoes for 20 minutes or until done.
- While you’re potatoes are boiling, add an egg to a small saucepan filled with cool water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 12 minutes.
- Once done, drain the hot water and shock the egg with cold water to cool it down.
- Once cool, peel and chop the egg.
While the potatoes & egg are boiling, prepare the carrots and cucumbers
- Peel the carrot. Cut it in half lengthwise and then slice it very thinly crosswise. You'll end up with very thin half-moons.
- Peel the cucumber. Slice it very thinly crosswise. You'll end up with very thin full-moons.
- Mix the sliced carrots and cucumbers with 2 tsp of kosher salt and set them aside for 10-15 minutes.
- Once rested, rinse them under water to remove the salt. Then use your hands to squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can.
Prepare the corn and ham
- To remove moisture from the corn, use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can.
- Chop the ham into even 1/2" pieces.
Finish the potatoes
- Once the potatoes are done cooking, and while they're still warm, mash them until they’re almost smooth and there’s just a few grape-sized pieces left.
- Add the rice vinegar and 1 tsp kosher salt while the potatoes are still warm. Stir until combined.
- Let the potatoes cool.
Mix everything together
- Once the potatoes are cool, add them to a large bowl. Next add the Kewpie mayo, carrots, cucumbers, corn, ham, and egg to the potatoes. Mix thoroughly.
- Chill the potatoes in the refrigerator until cool and then serve.
[…] to enter Japan. Think sandwiches, katsus, curries, spaghettis (such as mentaiko and napolitan), potato salad, and […]