Recipe: Japanese potato salad

This creamy potato salad is a regular feature in bento boxes (Japanese lunch boxes) and as an otooshi (free appetizer) at Japanese izakaya. It sometimes even appears inside convenience store sandwiches, although these are too heavy for my liking.

What makes Japanese potato salad so different from American or German potato salads is that no vinegar is involved. Instead, Japanese mayonnaise is used to bind the ingredients, giving the dish its uniquely creamy texture. My version also includes vegetables (cucumber, carrot and onion), ham and traditional French wholegrain mustard.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes (500 – 550g)
• 1 cucumber (100g)
• 1/2 a carrot (60g)
• 1/4 an onion (50g)
• 50g thinly sliced ham
• 10 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1-2 teaspoons traditional wholegrain mustard (moutarde à l’ancienne)

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place them into a pot with enough water to cover them. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and boil on a high heat. Once the potatoes come to the boil, reduce the heat and continue to cook until they are soft. Use a skewer to check they pierce easily.

Now cut the cucumber into 2 millimeter thick pieces and rub in 2-3 pinches of salt and squeeze to drain. Slice the onion into thin pieces (cutting with the grain) and soak in a bowl of water for 3 minutes. As with the cucumber, squeeze the onion to drain off the water.

Peel the carrot and cut into 2 millimeter thick quarters. Boil 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt and cook the pieces of carrot in the hot water for 1 minute before draining them.

Cut the ham in half, so that the pieces form semicircles, then slice diagonally so as to make thin strips.

When the potatoes are soft enough, drain the hot water from the pot using its lid, and place the pan back on a low heat so that any excess moisture evaporates.

Now place the potatoes into a large bowl and mash roughly with a wooden paddle. Try to keep some of the potatoes’ original texture when doing this.

Add a pinch of pepper, the cucumber, onion, carrot, ham and mix roughly. Finally, add 10 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1-2 teaspoons of mustard before mixing evenly.

Serve as a side dish or as part of a bento lunchbox.