All season I’ve been cooking through the vegetable recipes in Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu. The book includes a Japanese-style potato salad with Japanese mayonnaise. Some people in my family don’t like mayo, so I adapted the recipe to substitute a vinaigrette made with rice vinegar and hot yellow mustard, as well as adjusted the recipe for quantity and the ingredients I had on hand. This recipe serves 4 as a side dish.
Ingredients
- 6-8 small or medium red potatoes
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small or half a large cucumber
- 1 small red onion
- 1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil (such as grapeseed)
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp hot yellow mustard powder, or to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Bring a pot of salted water large enough to hold the potatoes and the carrot to a boil.
Peel the potatoes and the carrot, or scrub well if you plan to leave the skin on.
Slice small potatoes into quarters and larger potatoes into eighths so the wedges are a similar size.
When the water boils, place the potatoes and the (uncut) carrot in the water. Remove the carrot after 5-7 minutes (until tender but not soft). Continue cooking the potatoes until they are soft enough to mash (about 15 minutes total), then drain.
While the potatoes and carrot are continuing to cook, slice the cucumber into thin half moons, sprinkle with salt and toss. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then squeeze out as much water as possible.
Slice the onion and the carrot (when it is cool enough to handle) into think half moons.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, rice vinegar, mustard powder, salt and pepper.
Add the warm potatoes to the dressing and mash with a potato masher.
Stir in the cucumber, onion and carrot. Let the salad sit for 10-15 minutes so the vegetables absorb the dressing.
