Japanese Potato Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Place sliced cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Let sit until tender, about 5 minutes. Squeeze cucumber to remove excess water. Place drained cucumber in a small bowl.
• Place potatoes in a pot and rinse to remove extra starch. Drain. Add fresh water to cover. Add eggs and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Transfer cooked eggs to a bowl filled with cold water. Drain potatoes well and return them to the empty pot. Season with salt and black pepper and mash potatoes while still hot; leave some chunks for texture. Peel eggs, cut into chunks, and add to the pot with the potatoes. Add cucumber, imitation crab, and corn. Add mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and black pepper to taste.
• Chill potato salad before serving, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Boil the carrot, unpeeled, in the same pot. Boil the egg until hard boiled at the same time.
• In the meantime, slice the cucumber and the onion very thinly. Sprinkle both with a little salt, and let sit for a while (10 minutes or more) until the vegetables exude their juices. Squeeze firmly to get rid of the juices.
• When the potatoes and carrot are done, drain and peel them while still hot (holding each in a kitchen towel to peel them helps). Smash the potatoes and shred the carrot. Mix in a little salt and pepper and leave to cool.
• Peel the hard boiled egg and chop up finely.
• When the potatoes and carrot mixture has cooled to room temperature, mix in the cucumber, onion and egg. Mix in the mayonnaise. Cover with plastic wrap and cool in the refrigerator until serving time (ideally at least one hour).
• Note regarding mayonnaise: The ideal mayo to use is a Japanese one. Next best would be to make your own, using a flavor-neutral vegetable oil such as canola or safflower, not extra virgin olive oil. ("Extra Light" olive oil is fine.) Lacking access to Japanese mayonnaise or the time to make your own though, any commercial mayo will do as long as it's not too heavy on the vinegar flavor. Salad cream such as Miracle Whip should not be used however.

Steps:

• Cover the potatoes with about 1 inch of cold water in a medium pot and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain, then return the potatoes in the pot to the stove over medium heat and shake occasionally until all the excess water is evaporated, about 10 second.
• Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl. Add the vinegar, season with pepper and roughly mash with a potato masher or large fork (some small lumps should remain). Spread the potatoes up the sides of the bowl so they cool faster and set aside for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt.
• Toss together the cucumbers and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes, then rinse and firmly squeeze to remove any excess liquid.
• Add the corn and carrots to the boiling water and simmer until the carrots are almost tender, about 2 minutes. Drain in a small colander or strainer, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Transfer to a small bowl lined with a folded paper towel to absorb any excess water.
• When the potatoes are ready, add the corn, carrots, cucumber and ham and gently stir to combine. Add the mayonnaise, season with salt and gently stir until thoroughly combined, adding a little more mayonnaise, if you like. Check the seasonings, adding more vinegar, salt and/or pepper, as needed. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until cold. Check the seasonings again before serving.