Japanese Potato Salad With Mentaiko

By J. Kenji López-Alt

Updated Oct. 12, 2023

Japanese Potato Salad With Mentaiko
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
Total Time
45 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(329)
Comments
Read comments

A classic side dish for homemade lunch boxes or bento picnics, a Japanese potato salad is made with boiled russet potatoes, vegetables, boiled eggs and, often, ham, all seasoned with rice vinegar and tangy Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. Folding in some raw mentaiko, the salt-cured roe of Alaskan pollock, gives it a savory, briny complexity (and is a good reminder of why potatoes and cured fish eggs are so often paired together). The potatoes in Japanese potato salad are typically roughly mashed, but you can dice them if you prefer a heartier texture. Salting the cucumber in advance helps it retain some crunch when you mix it into the salad, while adding vinegar to the potatoes while they’re still hot helps them absorb more flavor.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1pound russet potatoes (about 2 whole large potatoes), peeled and cut into large chunks
  • Salt
  • 2eggs
  • 1tablespoon rice vinegar, plus more to taste
  • 2teaspoons sugar
  • 1small Japanese or Persian cucumber, or ½ an English cucumber (about 4 ounces), quartered lengthwise, seeds removed and discarded, and thinly sliced
  • 1small carrot (2 to 3 ounces), quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
  • ½cup thawed frozen corn kernels or briefly boiled fresh corn kernels (optional)
  • ¼cup chopped radish (about 2 radishes; optional)
  • 2scallions, thinly sliced
  • 5tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise (see Tip), plus more to taste
  • 1whole sac mentaiko or tarako (about 2 ounces)
  • 1teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water by at least 1 inch. Add a few big pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Gently lower the eggs into the pot. Cover, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender and show no resistance when pierced with a knife or cake tester, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and spread in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle with vinegar and sugar. Set aside until completely cool, at least 15 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water and peel when completely cool.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, toss the cucumber with a big pinch of salt in the bottom of a large bowl and set aside until the potatoes are cool.

  3. Step 3

    When the potatoes are cool, add them to the bowl with the cucumber and lightly mash with the back of a fork until some bite-size chunks still remain.

  4. Step 4

    Add carrot, corn, radish, scallion, mayonnaise, mentaiko, lemon zest and juice. Squeeze the hard-boiled eggs through your clean fingers to break them up, or chop them with a knife and add them to the salad. Stir together and season with pepper, more salt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice or mayonnaise, or a combination, to taste.

Tip
  • Kewpie is a Japanese brand of mayonnaise with a thicker texture, and tangier, more umami flavor, though any mayonnaise you prefer will work in this recipe.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
329 user ratings
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Comments

J Daniels

Suitable substitute for mentaiko?

HND

Russet potatoes are not available here in Japan — so for a more truly authentic version of the dish, 男爵薯 (danshakuimo; also known as Irish Cobbler) would be the potato to use. Some local variations: Supermarket potato salads usually have slices of ham and occasionally iceberg lettuce mixed in — but the truly great potato salads nix the carrots/corn for chunks of smoky bacon and jammy eggs.

Adrienne

I made this with baby Yukons cut in half, took the eggs out sooner, and couldn’t find the mentaiko so I simply left it out. I really liked all the veg mixed in! I might put a dash of fish sauce in the leftovers to make up for the lack of fishy flavor.

Queens

Kind of similar to the Russian “olivier” salad. For tanginess without the fish, add apples and cilantro to the Japanese version. Gives it a nice mix of salty, sweet, herby and creamy flavors.

Elysia

Procuring ingredients for the weekend: mentaiko is often sold spicy...? Should I hunt for not-spicy? Thanks!

A

Creamy, crunchy, comforting with tangy/sweet/umami/fresh flavors. Delicious! I used about a tablespoon of fish sauce in the dressing in place of mentaiko (I made roughly a double batch).

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