A Japanese-style potato salad with cubes of cured salmon.
Peel and quarter the potatoes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat in plenty of cold salted water, then simmer until done; about 12 minutes. A knife should slide in and out easily, and an instant-read thermometer should read about 210 (F). Drain the potatoes, spinkle them with the rice vinegar, and let cool.
Sprinkle the diced cucumber with salt and let drain in a bowl or colander for 10 or 15 minutes. Combine the diced celery and carrot and microwave, on high, for 3 to 5 minutes. They should be crunchy, but not raw-crunchy (you could also parboil them for a minute).
Add the mustard, ginger, 3 T of the mayonnaise and the half-teaspoon salt to the cooled potatoes, and mash with a large fork or potato masher. Small lumps are fine - this should be rich and a little grainy, rather than creamed. Adjust salt and add more mayo to taste. Fold in the rest of the ingredients - the eggs, diced vegetables, and salmon. Serve cold, garnished with chives.
I owe a debt to Serious Eats for their basic Japanese potato salad recipe, which definitely was in need of cured salmon - especially my own Soy and Ginger Gravlax recipe. This would be fine as well with commercial cured salmon, but pre-sliced versions won't let you make those nice cubes.
A word about Burlap and Barrel's tanga ginger - this stuff is amazing, and potent. It's hard to say enough about this company's spices (and no, they don't pay me - nobody does). Seriously, if you're using normal powdered ginger, you could easily double the recipe amount.
This dish is part of a whole sub-genre of Japanese cuisine that is their own take on U.S. dishes, and is often delightfully weird, especially if you like ketchup. The kewpie mayo helps give it an exotic flair. We served this as the best and richest part of a cold salad plate.
Ingredients
Directions
Peel and quarter the potatoes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat in plenty of cold salted water, then simmer until done; about 12 minutes. A knife should slide in and out easily, and an instant-read thermometer should read about 210 (F). Drain the potatoes, spinkle them with the rice vinegar, and let cool.
Sprinkle the diced cucumber with salt and let drain in a bowl or colander for 10 or 15 minutes. Combine the diced celery and carrot and microwave, on high, for 3 to 5 minutes. They should be crunchy, but not raw-crunchy (you could also parboil them for a minute).
Add the mustard, ginger, 3 T of the mayonnaise and the half-teaspoon salt to the cooled potatoes, and mash with a large fork or potato masher. Small lumps are fine - this should be rich and a little grainy, rather than creamed. Adjust salt and add more mayo to taste. Fold in the rest of the ingredients - the eggs, diced vegetables, and salmon. Serve cold, garnished with chives.
I owe a debt to Serious Eats for their basic Japanese potato salad recipe, which definitely was in need of cured salmon - especially my own Soy and Ginger Gravlax recipe. This would be fine as well with commercial cured salmon, but pre-sliced versions won't let you make those nice cubes.
A word about Burlap and Barrel's tanga ginger - this stuff is amazing, and potent. It's hard to say enough about this company's spices (and no, they don't pay me - nobody does). Seriously, if you're using normal powdered ginger, you could easily double the recipe amount.
This dish is part of a whole sub-genre of Japanese cuisine that is their own take on U.S. dishes, and is often delightfully weird, especially if you like ketchup. The kewpie mayo helps give it an exotic flair. We served this as the best and richest part of a cold salad plate.
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