Recipe: Japanese Potato Salad by Bestselling Cookbook Author Maori Murota

There are many ways to skin a potato. The spud shines in focaccia, cheesy bakes, a good mash and, of course, a tray of golden roasted beauties. But one of Japan’s most-loved formats is the potato salad, or potesara. The fluffy, tangy take on the classic has become a staple side dish across the country (and the world).

This version comes from Maori Murota, a self-taught, Tokyo-born chef who cooked at Parisian restaurants Do and Bento at La Conserverie before turning to cookbooks. Her 2014 debut, Tokyo Cult Recipes, became an international bestseller, followed by 2022’s Japanese Home Cooking – a collection inspired by the dishes she grew up eating at home in Tokyo. Through both, Murota’s mission has stayed the same: making Japanese home cooking accessible to a wider audience.

This year, the respected chef and author distilled her 2022 release into a sleeker, more focused format. Among its 100 diverse dishes is this potato side – which is Murota’s favourite childhood salad. “With homemade soy mayonnaise, it has a light, fresh taste and it’s even better,” she writes. Get cooking.

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Japanese potato salad by Maori Murota

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 10 minutes resting time

Cooking time: 11 minutes

Ingredients

750g potatoes

¼ red onion

¼ cucumber

30g carrot

6 tbsp soy mayonnaise or traditional mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

Seasoning

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp salt

1½ tsp raw sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Peel and slice the red onion into very thin rings. Put them in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to remove the bitterness. Drain well by squeezing lightly between your hands. Pat dry with paper towel. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Sprinkle with 1 pinch of salt and leave to disgorge for 10 minutes. Squeeze between your hands to remove excess water. Peel the carrot, cut it in quarters lengthways and then into thin slices.

Mix all the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl.

Put the potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, until they are tender when poked with a knife. Add the carrots 2 minutes before the end of cooking, then drain. Put the potatoes back into the pot along with the carrots and heat for about 30 seconds over medium heat, stirring the pot to allow the moisture to evaporate. Remove from the heat.

Add the seasoning and onion while the potatoes are hot. They will absorb the flavours of the seasoning and cook the onion slightly. Leave to cool. Add the cucumber and stir in the mayonnaise. Season with pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Images and text from Japanese Home Cooking (Mini) by Maori Murota, photography by Akiko Ida (except p. 106–109, by Pierre Javelle). Published by Murdoch Books. Available now for RRP $29.99.