Korean Potato Salad – Gamja Salad (감자 샐러드)
Creamy, luscious, and ever so fluffy, this Korean potato salad is like no other Korean banchan. The perfect accompaniment and palate cleanser for Korean BBQs or simply to have on its own.
Why You’ll Love Korean Potato Salad
With all the different types of Korean side dishes, this Korean potato salad (gamja salad) is one that isn’t pickled or fermented, such as our Korean pickled radish or Korean pickles in soy sauce, nor does it include sesame oil or the much love Korean chilli pepper, gochugaru like our Korean spinach side dish or Korean radish salad.
It is a truly popular Korean banchan as it has such different flavours and textures. This is also a banchan you can’t readily buy from Korean supermarkets, so if you’re craving it, you’re going to have to make it at home.
It is easy to make and incredibly budget friendly. It’s also versatile as a banchan, or it can be made into a potato and egg sandwich, perfect for all those leftovers.
What is Korean Potato Salad?
Korean potato salad is a popular Korean side dish. Unlike most potato salads we may be accustomed to, this potato salad recipe is actually mashed.
The main ingredient added are hard boiled eggs. Corn, cucumber, ham, raisins, apples, and carrots are other popular inclusions in the mash. Bound with creamy mayonnaise, you have yourself delicious Korean mashed potatoes.
It is typically eaten during Korean BBQ feasts as it helps to cleanse the palate between rich meats. However, many Koreans also love to eat it with japchae or Korean fried chicken, much like potato and gravy with KFC!
What Are the Best Potatoes to Make Gamja Salad?
The best potatoes to use are floury potatoes such as Russets or Yukon golds. Floury potatoes are starchy and tend to be soft and fluffy when they are cooked.
Waxy potatoes are better used for roasting, such as our salad with roasted potatoes and arugula or potato salad with crème fraîche.
They also tend to be drier than waxy potatoes, which ensures that this Korean potato side dish doesn’t end up in a soggy mess.
How Do You Make Potato Salad Not Soggy?
The biggest trick to ensure that the potato salad doesn’t end up wet or start to water is to ensure you get the right potatoes and then cook them properly.
As mentioned above, Yukon Gold potatoes or Russet potatoes are best for this recipe, or any mashed potato recipe for that matter. Waxy potatoes will, of course, work but they won’t be as fluffy.
The cooking part of the potatoes is the next step in ensuring that this Asian potato salad doesn’t end up soggy. Cut them up in even sizes and add them to the water in the pot. Bring them to the boil. Don’t bring the water to a boil, and then add the potatoes as the outside will cook faster than inside, giving us an uneven cook.
Once cooked, drain the water, and place the potatoes back into the pot. Put the lid back onto the potatoes, and the steam will dry out the starchy potatoes. Leave it for 10 minutes.
You can then mash the potatoes and let them cool to room temperature. Hot potatoes do not mix well with mayonnaise, as the heat will cause the mayonnaise to melt and become oily.
Lastly, to avoid a soggy potato banchan, ensure that all ingredients placed into the mashed potatoes must be as dry as possible. If they are too wet, the mashed potatoes will not hold well.
Recipe Overview
Flavour/Texture: Creamy, fluffy, and soft. A mouthful of this Korean potato salad is just joy! It’s the kind of side dish that is moreish and difficult to stop. The mayonnaise is so creamy and mixed through the starchy potatoes; it gives it a truly delectable finish.
The egg makes this Asian potato salad even more luxurious, while the cucumber gives it a bit of crunch, and the spring onion provides a slight bite to the recipe.
Ease: An easy recipe of everyday ingredients. Boil, mash, chop. Nothing to it!
Time: It takes 45 minutes to make this recipe only because we need to give the potatoes time to cook, steam and cool down. Everything else can be done while this is occurring.
Ingredients
These are the ingredients you need for Korean potato salad:
Cucumber: A small cucumber will suffice for this recipe. Make sure it’s nice and firm.
Potatoes: Any floury potatoes will do for this Korean potato salad recipe. The popular types are Russet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes. Easy enough to find and prepare. Be sure to follow the instructions below properly to yield the best result.
Eggs: Need 3 hard boiled eggs, and this is a key ingredient in the potato salad recipe.
Spring onion: Just 1 stalk will do. Use the greens and the whites.
Mayonnaise: Use good quality mayonnaise to ensure it is nice and creamy. Use Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise if you have it, as that works really well.
Variations and Substitutions
Ingredients: These Korean mashed potatoes can have varying ingredients added to the recipe. Our recipe only calls for hard boiled eggs, spring onion and cucumber. You can, however, also add carrots, apples, raisins, ham and/or corn kernels.
Acidity: To help cut through the creamy textures of this gamja salad, you can squeeze some lemon or add a touch of apple cider vinegar.
Sandwich: This recipe is also perfect for making finger sandwiches. Keep the recipe as it is, and add as much as you like between 2 pieces of bread.
Fantastic little afternoon tea snack item and definitely a winner for those school lunches. This means that if you have any leftovers, lunch the next day is well and truly accounted for.
Instructions
Step by step instructions for how to make Korean potato salad:
Cut cucumber in half lengthways and slice.
Place cucumber in a sieve or colander over a bowl. Add ¼ tsp salt and mix it in. Let it sit for 30 minutes to draw out all the water.
Then place cucumbers in the palm of your hand and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Roughly chop into smaller pieces.
Peel potatoes and cut them into pieces of the same size.
Place in a pot of water and bring to the boil.
Once cooked, drain the water, place the potatoes back into the pot, close it with the lid, and let sit for 10 minutes. This will dry out the potatoes for a fluffier finish.
In a small pot, cook 3 hard-boiled eggs. Remove the yolk of 2 eggs and set aside.
Roughly chop the rest.
Push the 2 remaining egg yolks through a fine sieve and place them in a separate bowl.
Finely chop the spring onion.
How to Assemble the Salad
Put the cooked potatoes into a mixing bowl and mash.
Add the eggs.
Add cucumber, and spring onion.
Then add sugar, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise.
Mix until well combined.
Using an ice cream scoop, place a serving or two in a small bowl.
Sprinkle on top with some egg yolks.
Serve
How to Make This Salad Perfectly [ Expert Tips]
Floury potatoes: As mentioned, floury potatoes are the key to making the best Korean potato salad. You want its starchy nature rather than the waxy potatoes, as that is how you get them nice and fluffy.
Same sized potatoes: When cutting the potatoes up for cooking, try and get them around the same size so that you get an even cook and they are of the same texture.
Starting potatoes in cold water: Don’t boil the water, and then add potatoes. Instead, always place the potatoes in a pot of unboiled water and boil them together. This way, the potatoes are cooked evenly throughout rather than more cooked on the outside then the inside if added to boiling water.
Steaming the potatoes: After the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from the pot, add the potatoes back in and put the lid on. Let it steam for 10 minutes so that the moisture in the potato dries out. You need dry potatoes to avoid sogginess.
Cooling potatoes: Do not add mayonnaise to warm mashed potatoes. The mayonnaise won’t hold and will melt and become oily. Instead, let it come to room temperature before adding the mayonnaise.
Drying cucumber: Cucumber is high in water content, so we need to draw out as much moisture as possible. Stir through some salt and let it sit in a sieve over a bowl. Watch the water slowly start to drip. You’ll be amazed how much water comes out in 30 minutes! Then grab a hand full and gently squeeze between the palm of your hands to remove excess moisture.
Great Mains for This Salad
What to serve with Korean potato salad? Try these delicious main dish recipes:
Who doesn’t love a Korean meal? Thai Korean potato salad would be fantastic for these slow cooker Korean beef or kalbi (Korean BBQ beef short ribs) recipes.
If you’re not after something so heavy and live a little bit of spice, try this gochujang Korean fried rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Serve gamja salad on its own as a Korean side dish to Korean favourites like Korean BBQ or Korean fried chicken. You can fancy it up and use an ice cream scoop to create perfect round dollops of joy!
Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before consuming. If it has dried out a little, you can stir through some mayonnaise again to revive it.
Yes, you can, which makes it so much easier when you have to prepare all the other banchan for the Korean feast you’re about to have! Also, fantastic if you intend to make sandwiches. Meal prep on the Sunday for construction on the Monday morning.
Hard boiled eggs are a must in this Korean mashed potato. You can then choose to add cucumber, carrots, ham, corn, spring onion, apple and even raisin if you like. Any of these combinations would work.
Who would have thought a Korean mashed potato recipe could be so delicious and a staple in Korean cuisine? Simple ingredients and an easy cook.
More Asian Salad Recipes
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Korean Potato Salad – Gamja Salad (감자 샐러드)
Ingredients
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Instructions
Salad
- Cut cucumber in half lengthways and slice. Place cucumber in a sieve or colander over a bowl. Add ¼ tsp salt and mix it in. Let it sit for 30 minutes to draw out all the water. Then place cucumbers in the palm of your hand and squeeze out as much water as possible. Roughly chop into smaller pieces.
- Peel potatoes and cut them into pieces. Place in a pot of water and bring to the boil. Once cooked, drain the water, place the potatoes back into the pot and close it with the lid and let sit for 10 minutes. This will dry out the potatoes for a fluffier finish.
- In a small pot, cook 3 hard-boiled eggs. Remove the yolk of 2 eggs and set aside. Roughly chop the rest. Push the 2 remaining egg yolks through a fine sieve and place them in a separate bowl.
- Finely chop the scallion (spring onion).
Assembly
- Put the cooked potatoes into a mixing bowl and mash.
- Add the eggs, cucumber, and scallion (spring onion).
- Then add sugar, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. Mix until well combined.
- Using an ice cream scoop, place a serving or two in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle on top with some egg yolks.
- Serve.
Notes
- Make sure you get floury potatoes for the recipe. Waxy potatoes won’t bind as well and they will be less fluffy.
- It is important to draw as much moisture from the cucumber as possible. Otherwise, the potato salad will be wet.
- The egg yolk finish is optional but will give the Korean potato salad a lovely garnish and a richer taste.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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This potato salad was delicious. The cucumber addition was delicious. I’ll definitely make it again.