You might not think Potato Salad is Japanese food, but it is! Japanese Potato Salad is similar to American potato salad; semi-smashed boiled potatoes mixed with mayonnaise. Still doesn’t sound like Japanese food, does it? What makes Japanese potato salad Japanese? … the secret is in mayonnaise.
To make ‘Japanese’ Potato Salad, you have to use Japanese mayonnaise. That is the key ingredient. Japanese mayonnaise tastes more tangy and salty, and is very different from American mayonnaise. While mayo is used mainly for sandwiches in the US, it is used almost like a sauce or seasoning for a lot of dishes in Japan. We use Japanese mayo for salad, like potato salad here, but also as a salad dressing. It is packaged in soft bottles, and you can just squeeze it over your green salad (hey, don’t say eew!). We can also use it as a sauce for dipping, a seasoned oil for stir frying and so on.