Japanese Potato Salad With Mentaiko Recipe (2024)

Suitable substitute for mentaiko?

Russet potatoes are not available here in Japan — so for a more truly authentic version of the dish, 男爵薯 (danshakuimo; also known as Irish Cobbler) would be the potato to use. Some local variations: Supermarket potato salads usually have slices of ham and occasionally iceberg lettuce mixed in — but the truly great potato salads nix the carrots/corn for chunks of smoky bacon and jammy eggs.

I made this with baby Yukons cut in half, took the eggs out sooner, and couldn’t find the mentaiko so I simply left it out. I really liked all the veg mixed in! I might put a dash of fish sauce in the leftovers to make up for the lack of fishy flavor.

How do I use the Mentaiko? Do I take it out of the sac? Do I cook it first? I looked it up and there are many ways to use it.

I can't wait to add mentaiko to my next batch of Japanese potato salad! However, I always salt my carrot slices along with the cucumber; it takes some of the raw crunch out of them and adds flavor.

Do you need to chop the mentaiko, or prep it some other way? Or simply mix it in?

This reminds me of my mother-in-law's usual herring potato salad at Christmas, which here in South Africa occurs in summer.So it is a basic potato salad with hardboiled eggs AND mixed with small pieces of roll mops, cubes of gherkins, tart granny smith apples, cubes of cooked beetroot, cubes of cheddar, and gently mixed with some home-made mayonnaise. I like to add caraway seed and some white pepper.

Mia talked about smoked salmon, tinned mackerel and salmon roe in her comments. I think those would work well. If you're looking for the salty kick, the salmon roe might be best but I'm going to try it with smoked salmon to see how it goes!

Hi Kit, white potatoes that have been cooked and then cooled are actually lower to medium glycemic index (around 49) due to the resistant starch that forms with cooling. Corn and carrots are also not high glycemic index - raw sweet corn has a glycemic index rating of around 52-55, and raw carrots have a glycemic index of around 16. Anything below 55 is considered low glycemic index - high glycemic would be a score of 70 or above. Sincerely, a Registered Dietitian.

Save an unnecessary step: Mix mayo and rice vinegar and sugar all together then pour over potato, egg, cuke etc mixture. And I used a few drops of fish sauce instead of roe because really.

MSG is found naturally in Umami-heavy foods… this “Chinese restaurant syndrome” has been discounted by mainstream scientists as more of a myth than reality. If you go to Chengdu, and get some Hot Pot, you will often find MSG included as a table condiment. Go for it.

Consider salt-cured anchovies as a substitute for mentaiko. I blended 4 of them into the mayonnaise along with some gochujang and fresh tarragon. Adding hard-boiled eggs as recommended will change the flavor by smoothing out the edge (and complexity) of the dressing. You may find this either positive or negative, but taste the salad before you add the eggs.

What's a "jammy egg?" Same as soft-boiled? Planning to make Japanese potato salad these weekend for a party. Unfortunately, cannot use roe or ham as my daughter doesn't eat fish or meat.

Won't be trying this recipe with metaiko or tarako because it seems you can't buy them online and there are no Japanese stores within 200 miles of my house. What would be a suitable substitute?

Don't forget to take the mentaiko out of it's sac before mixing it in!

Excellent even without the mentaiko!

I made this with Yukon golds and wild coho salmon roe- delicious!

I made it without the Mentaiko, but it was delicious. Can't wait to try it with.

I had a version of this in at an Izakaya in Japan. It was served in a suribachi and had potato chips which was excellent addition.

Made it without corn or radishes. Nice! Would use less sugar and more rice wine vinegar

I’m a bit disappointed. This tasted nothing like the potato salad that I’ve had in Japanese restaurants. It was way too sweet and needed a lot more vinegar, which made it runny. And to the person who thinks MSG syndrome is false: I get a blinding migraine, my hands blow up, heart races, and find it hard to breathe. I worked in Asia, and this is actually a real thing for some.

Regarding mentaiko, split the sac with a knife, scoop out the eggs, and then take the back of the knife and scrape the eggs still stuck to the sac.

I needed to increase the rice vinegar to get the zippy flavor in the potatoes. My vinegar says ‘mild’ so maybe that’s why??? Interested to see if anyone’s tried this with canned fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel). Hard to get the roe in my area (Sacramento, CA, USA). Gonna try tins of tuna today.

Delicious. I did riff slightly... increased quantities (used 5 potatoes), and increased veggie ratio, using a higher percentage of cucumber, radish, scallion, and especially carrots, for which I used the rainbow variety -- so pretty! I didn't have the mentaiko, so I used some skipjack tuna flakes I had on hand along with Trader Joe's gochujang sauce. I'd say it came out with just the right balance of umami and bite.

I’ve used 2/3 rice vinegar & 1/3 Kewpie Mayo in potato salad for decades after living in Japan. I makes a fantastic lighter dressing for cole slaw too b

Save an unnecessary step: Mix mayo and rice vinegar and sugar all together then pour over potato, egg, cuke etc mixture. And I used a few drops of fish sauce instead of roe because really.

I live in SF - there are several Japanese grocery stores - I got 2 sacs for $6.00. Frozen. The other one is in the freezer. It is very easy to use - you just scrape the mentaiko into the bowl. Made as directed with ingredients listed - it was a huge hit, disappeared in about 10 minutes. Thank you Kenji!

I typically dress potatoes when they are slightly warm but I note this recipe calls for dressing them when they are cold. J.KLA tends to consider all options before offering guidance; does anyone have a good explanation for this strategy?

Consider salt-cured anchovies as a substitute for mentaiko. I blended 4 of them into the mayonnaise along with some gochujang and fresh tarragon. Adding hard-boiled eggs as recommended will change the flavor by smoothing out the edge (and complexity) of the dressing. You may find this either positive or negative, but taste the salad before you add the eggs.

Mentaiko is a little or a lot spicy depending on the brand. Tarako is the non-spicy version. Kenji says to add it raw, you would scrap it out of the sack. And add it to your dish. Or you could grill it in the sack. Lay it on some foil and add sesame oil or olive oil on top and grill it until cooked. Then just slice it as is and add to the dish. We often eat this as a topping for rice or all mixed up in a pasta sauce. Yum!