When you go to a Korean restaurant, several dishes called banchan are brought to the table at the start of the meal. Banchan are small plates of food to be shared by everyone and include kimchi, various seasoned vegetables and tofu, just to name a few. You don’t order banchan – they’re freebies, like getting a bread basket or an amuse-bouche. Depending on the restaurant, you may only get 5 banchan or you may get up to a dozen. And chances are, if you return another time you will be presented with a completely different set of banchan.
My absolute favorite banchan is Japanese potato salad. Every time I go to a Korean restaurant I cross my fingers that it will be one of the banchan dishes. I could eat a whole bucketful. Japanese potato salad doesn’t have any Asian flavors but it’s well liked by Japanese and Koreans and is sometimes used as a sandwich filling on white bread or a brioche roll. This potato salad is simple but flavorful. It’s just potatoes, eggs, carrots, cucumbers and mayo (traditionally it also includes onions). It’s creamy and soft and the cucumbers add the perfect crunch. Some people like to include corn, bell peppers, raisins, ham or red apples (my favorite).
Japanese Potato Salad is an excellent side dish (I was going to use a pun there) for a picnic or barbecue or main dish like tonkatsu (Japanese breaded and fried pork cutlet). Most recipes call for Kewpie – a popular Japanese mayonnaise which is super creamy and has a distinct flavor (sort of like Miracle Whip). I prefer to use a more subtle mayonnaise like Hellman’s. However you choose to eat it and whatever add-ins you choose to include, this Japanese Potato Salad is delicious. (I am so obsessed with this salad that I was almost unable to take a picture of the finished product.)
- 3/4 cup Japanese or English cucumber thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 russet potatoes (or 3 yukon gold potatoes)
- 3/4 cup baby carrots (or one large carrot)
- 2 eggs hard-boiled, peeled
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place the cucumber slices in a small bowl and sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss and let sit for 20-30 minutes. (Salting the cucumber releases moisture and prevents them from turning mushy and the salad from becoming runny.)
- Wash and scrub the potatoes. Leave skins on and quarter each potato. Add the potatoes and carrots to a large pot and add enough water to cover potatoes. Gently boil until the potatoes are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Remove potatoes and carrots and place onto a cutting board to cool. The potato skins may peel off with little effort. If not, use a knife to remove the skins. Dice potatoes and carrots and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Finely chop the hard-boiled eggs and add to the mixing bowl.
- With your hands or a towel, firmly squeeze the liquid from the cucumbers. (I was able to squeeze out 1/4 cup of liquid.) Add the cucumbers to the mixing bowl. Discard the liquid.
- Add mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste. Combine all of the ingredients (mash some of the potato cubes with a fork for a creamier texture). Refrigerate the salad for about one hour before serving.
