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Korean potato salad (gamja salad)

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★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into equal-sized pieces
  • 2 tbsp salt, plus a bit more for seasoning
  • 1/2 cup uncooked (or 1 cup cooked) elbow macaroni (optional)
  • 1 Kirby cucumber, seeds removed and diced (about 1/2 cup, heaping)
  • 1 carrot, minced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 cup cooked sweet corn
  • 3–4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
  • 1/2 cup kewpie mayonnaise (or regular; see Notes)
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp white ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional; see Notes)

Instructions

  1. If you haven’t already, hard boil your eggs (I place them in cold water and bring to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water, covered, for 10 minutes) then rinse in cold water and peel. Remove the yolks from the eggs and dice the egg whites, then set aside.
  2. Next, peel the potatoes (again, if you haven’t already) and cut them into roughly equal-sized pieces. I aim for pieces a little thicker than an inch, but it doesn’t really matter how big they are as long as they’re equal in size, so that they’ll cook evenly. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Add 2 tablespoons salt, stir to dissolve, then place over high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, cook the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, or until a fork slides through with little resistance.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni (if using) according to package directions, drain, and set aside.
  4. Optional: Sprinkle salt evenly over the diced cucumber and let sit to draw out some of the water. After about 10-15 minutes (right around when the macaroni and potatoes should be nearly done), squeeze out any excess moisture.
  5. When the potatoes are fork-tender, drain well and run them through a potato ricer, or else gently mash with a potato masher, pastry cutter, or even just a fork. A potato ricer will give you the creamiest consistency without making the potatoes gummy, but if you like some chunks, mashing with a fork would work just as well.
  6. Add the cucumber, minced carrot, sweet corn, diced egg whites (reserving the yolks), mayonnaise, sugar, and white ground pepper to the potatoes and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until smooth and well-combined. If you like, you can add a splash of lemon juice, which I find adds a bit of welcome tartness (see Notes for other suggestions — you can also add diced apple, or a bit of yogurt). Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, press the yolks through a fine mesh sieve or grate them over the salad. Enjoy cold.

Notes

A number of recipes call for diced apple or pear, which I think would be fantastic here — I simply omitted (in a rare instance of self-restraint) because my salad was a little busy already. Aeri’s Kitchen calls for some lemon-lime soda or Korean drinking yogurt to add that bit of tartness, which sounds amazing, too.

I like Kewpie mayonnaise for its slightly sweeter and tangier flavor, but you can, of course, simply use regular mayonnaise in its place. For a lighter alternative, replace half the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.

Find it online: https://tworedbowls.com/2016/06/16/korean-potato-salad-gamja-salad/