Once you try Japanese Mayonnaise, you’ll never go back. It has a rich egg flavor, a tangy and sweet taste, and is creamier in color and texture than regular mayonnaise. And just like any Japanese creation, it scores high on the umami factor.
Japanese mayonnaise (マヨネーズ) better known as Kewpie mayo—is a pantry staple in almost every Japanese household. Known for its richer egg flavor and umami goodness, Japanese mayo has become a cult favorite among foodies worldwide. David Chang, the famous chef and founder of the Momofuku restaurant group, even calls it “the best mayonnaise in the world.” I have to agree!
Thanks to its popularity, you can easily find Japanese mayonnaise outside of Japan these days. However, if you wish to make a homemade version, I have two recipes: One is made from scratch, and the other is a short-cut version using ready-made mayonnaise.
Table of contents
What is Japanese Mayonnaise (Kewpie Mayo)?
When most people mention Japanese mayonnaise, they refer to the most popular brand, Kewpie Mayo. It was invented in 1924 by Toichiro Nakashima, who first discovered mayonnaise on his visit to the U.S. and decided to introduce his own mayonnaise so the Japanese people would enjoy it.
Today, Kewpie mayo has become synonymous with Japanese mayonnaise. Everyone recognizes it for its signature squeeze plastic bottle with a Kewpie doll logo and a red cap.
The Japanese are obsessed with this condiment as we use it on sandwiches, okonomiyaki, rice bowls, fusion sushi, salad dressings, and even pizza. In fact, when I was growing up, there were limited choices of dressings, so we used to eat our salad with a dollop of Kewpie mayo (oh, the good old days!)
Many JOC readers told me they were never into American mayo, but they would only use Kewpie mayo as they are enamored by its slightly tangy, creamy, light, yet umami flavor.
What is the Difference Between Japanese Mayo and Regular Mayo?
So, what is Japanese mayo all about and why is it so famous? How does it taste differently?
You’ll first notice that Japanese mayo has a more prominent eggy taste with a hint of fruity sweetness. The texture is also thicker and creamier than regular mayo.
Japanese mayo uses only egg yolks to create a deeper yellow color and a custard-like texture that is smooth and luxurious, as opposed to regular American mayonnaise, which uses whole eggs. While distilled vinegar is used in American brands, Kewpie incorporates rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar to lend a sweeter and subdued tang.
As the flavor is more rounded and packed with umami, it’s no wonder Kewpie mayo is the must-have ingredient in many iconic Japanese dishes!
Where to Buy Japanese Mayo
You can find Japanese mayo, especially the Kewpie brand, at most Japanese or Asian grocery stores or online. Some well-stocked mainstream grocery stores such as Costco, Walmart, and Target might carry it too. If you live outside the U.S., you can find it at Daiso (if there’s one near you) or online.
Note that other brands of Japanese mayonnaise are also sold in a plastic squeeze bottle with a fine tip. The unique tip design allows you to spread the mayo on anything and to create zigzag patterns on okonomiyaki (see picture above). Look for the Kewpie doll logo on the bottle if you only want to purchase the Kewpie brand mayo.
Try my homemade mayo if you can’t find it or prefer to make your own!
7 Important Tips Before Making Japanese Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil, egg yolk, and vinegar. Oil and water in the yolk are a mixture of two liquids that normally can’t be combined.
Emulsifying is done by slowly adding one ingredient to another while mixing rapidly. This disperses and suspends tiny droplets of one liquid through another. Proteins and lecithin in the egg yolk serve as emulsifiers.
Here are a few tips you need to know:
1. Use vegetable, safflower, grapeseed oil, or canola oil
Never use old oil or extra virgin olive oil, as it won’t emulsify well.
2. Make sure the egg yolks are at room temperature
Molecules in cold egg yolks get separated easily, which makes them less ideal for mixing.
3. Use mustard
Not sure about adding mustard? It’s not included just for the taste but also to further stabilize the emulsion as it contains small amounts of lecithin.
4. Add dashi powder for umami flavor
Kewpie mayo includes monosodium glutamate (MSG), which gives an umami flavor. Since I don’t keep a bag of Ajinomoto (the famous MSG brand) at home, I add dashi powder instead to boost a similar umami flavor. The umami from kombu and Katsuobushi in the dashi powder works in the mayonnaise.
5. Gently pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream
Adding oil too quickly will keep the two liquids from combining (emulsifying); hence, you want to pour the oil into a thin and steady stream when combined with the rest of the mixture.
6. Use a blender, mixer, or food processor
The key to making delicious mayonnaise is how small you make the oil molecules. Store-bought mayonnaise may taste better and lighter because household blender/mixer/food processor is not as powerful as commercial ones.
Still, it’s better to use equipment if you already have one in your kitchen. Using a tool helps churn your homemade mayonnaise much faster and more consistently (less arm work, too).
7. Use pasteurized egg yolks or very fresh egg yolks
Pasteurized eggs can reduce or eliminate the risk of being infected by the salmonella bacteria when preparing recipes that call for raw or uncooked eggs (Roughly one egg out of every 20,000 eggs will contain salmonella). If you have an immersion circulator, you can purchase pasteurized eggs or make your own. Also, the quality of the eggs makes a difference. Use fresh, local organic eggs if possible.
The Easy Version: Quick Japanese Mayo
Not everyone has the time to make homemade mayonnaise from scratch. The good news is you can take a shortcut by adding rice vinegar and sugar to the American mayonnaise. So don’t throw away your Hellmann’s Mayonnaise just yet. It’s not precisely the same, but consider this your easy hack when replicating the taste of Kewpie mayo.
For 1 cup of American mayonnaise, whisk together 2 Tbsp rice vinegar and 1 Tbsp sugar.
For 1 Tbsp of American mayonnaise, whisk together ½ tsp rice vinegar and ⅛ tsp sugar.
Signature Japanese Recipes Using Japanese Mayo
- Japanese Egg Sandwich (Tamago Sando)
- Takoyaki
- Okonomiyaki
- Karaage
- Japanese Potato Salad
- California Roll
- Japanese Kani Salad
Also, don’t forget to check out my super easy Spicy Mayo recipe! It’s so good in lobster rolls and sushi rolls like dragon rolls.
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Japanese Mayonnaise (Kewpie Mayo)
Ingredients
- 2 pasteurized egg yolks (at room temperature; from the market, or pasteurize eggs at home)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1½ cups neutral oil
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 tsp sugar (plus more, to taste)
- ½ tsp dashi powder
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Before You Start: This recipe calls for pasteurized egg yolks. If you cannot find pasteurized eggs, use the best, freshest eggs you can find for this recipe. You can also follow my tutorial to pasteurize your eggs using an immersion circulator.
- Gather all the ingredients. Tip: If you reduce the recipe ingredients, there won’t be enough volume for the food processor or blender to do its work, so you may need to hand whisk the ingredients (or use a hand mixer or immersion blender).
- Make sure the egg yolks are at room temperature. Put 2 pasteurized egg yolks and 2 tsp Dijon mustard into the bowl of a food processor or a blender; I used a food processor with a 3-cup bowl for one batch (yields 2 cups) of this recipe. Process for 20 seconds. Tip: Mustard adds flavor and helps to emulsify the mixture, reducing the risk of the mayonnaise breaking.
- With the food processor running, SLOWLY drizzle about one-third of the 1½ cups neutral oil in a thin, steady stream—about ½ cup oil for one batch of mayonnaise. The mixture will begin to thicken and emulsify. Tip: If you add the oil too fast, it won’t emulsify.
- Add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 2 tsp sugar, and ½ tsp dashi powder and give everything a whirl again.
- Continue to add another one-third of the oil in a thin, steady stream. I use the Stir setting while adding the oil.
- Finally, add 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 4 tsp fresh lemon juice, and the remaining one-third of the oil and process for an extra 10 seconds, just until the ingredients are combined and emulsified. Tip: Don’t blend the mayonnaise too long, as homemade mayonnaise comes together pretty quickly in the food processor or blender. When blended too long, the emulsion that brought the spread together is more likely to break, either from overprocessing or overheating.
- Taste the mayonnaise and adjust with salt, sugar, or lemon juice to your liking. I personally added 2 more teaspoons of sugar for a total of 4 teaspoons for one batch.
To Store
- You can keep the mayonnaise in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for about 4 days.
[…] If you like to make homemade, check out my homemade Japanese mayonnaise recipe. […]
I don’t want to use raw egg for safety reasons. Is there a way to take regular mayonnaise and add seasoning to get a similar flavor? I don’t know what Kewpie tastes like so I can’t play around with it myself.
Hi DDM! Yes! In the middle of this post (right above recipe card area), I’ve shared a shortcut version. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
[…] Mayonnaise Nhật Bản […]
Btw you can make mayo with olive oil. It emulsifies just as well as with any other liquid oil. 😉
Hi Irena! Thank you for your feedback!
Why do you put so much sugar in the “Make American Mayo into Kewpie Mayo” (2 tablespoons) version and so little in the real “make it from scratch version.
I made the version with the Best Foods Mayo, sugar, and Rice vinegar. Certainly like the taste but really have no idea how it should taste as I’ve never had the Kewpie Mayo. I absolutely will be using it to make sushi tomorrow.
Also, does the made from scratch version really only last about 4 days in the fridge. We don’t eat mayonnaise nearly that fast.
Hi Dan! You mean 1/4 tsp sugar for 2 Tbsp American mayo? Japanese mayo has sweet taste to it, and that was the amount needed that’s similar to Japanese mayo. Japanese mayo includes umami and I think American mayo is very flat – the only way to boost is to add a bit of sugar. Plus homemade has egg yolk and dashi which boost more taste.
Because of the egg yolk content in the mayo, I recommend to use it soon. If you don’t need that much, make half portion or so. Otherwise it’ll be wasteful. 🙁
I can say from experience that the only times I’ve broken aioli has occured from adding oil before the water miscible ingredients, so I am hesitant to follow your method of piecemealing water-solubles alternating with the oil. Feel free to boost my confidence as to your method here. Also, does the heat generated from blending egg yolks not pasteurize them enough?
Hi Lewis! The lemon juice and rice vinegar are added between oil. It works for me. But please feel free to adjust the recipe as you feel right. You will need pasteurized eggs for this recipe unless raw eggs are safe use (for example, raw eggs are safe in Japan).
We keep trying more of your recipes. My only problem is when I am going through the recipe there is this distracting video on the side with another dish. Sometimes it breaks the concentration or by the time I see what might be interesting – it is over & trying to re-find it is not easy.
Hi Tom! Thank you for trying my recipes! I’m sorry that the video is distracting… it’s one of our primary ads that we can’t remove it. 🙁 We took out other ads on the blog post which were a bit more distracting to read. I’m terribly sorry for the bad experience you had and I wish I could make it better but this primary ad help us share free content on our site. I’m sorry. 🙁
I don’t know how old this comment is, but hi! I find the video pop-ups distracting too. What I’ve found is that if you hover over the video a small “close” or “x” button will appear on the top right of the video that you can close it with (it’ll move it back to its original spot on the page). Sometimes it takes a few seconds to show up, but it’s better than some of the ads on YouTube where you sometimes have to refresh the page because it’ll force you to sit through a 30 second – 3 minute thing otherwise (not all ads there have “skip” buttons anymore).
I don’t know how closing the videos affects you, Nami, but I hope the several seconds of required play means you still get your revenue from it. I’m sorry if closing them affects things negatively for you. 🙁 I have issues with ads playing videos in general online, even in the sidebars now, and I hate how it must affect the bloggers I like when viewers like me have to block or close everything just to read a page. It should be the advertisers who lose out, not bloggers like you.
Hi Ashley! Thank you so much for your feedback. Ads company told me they don’t have much control for ads outside the US (and that was the case).
Thank you for letting me know. Advertisers are trying different ways so 3 parties (ads, blogger, readers) can coexist. Some ads are aggressive and we don’t usually take those ads as it’s not worth losing our readers who try to make our recipes. Our bottom line is that readers should be able to keep it off if they don’t want to, even though it requires one click, making sure the readers have a choice. We work with a very reputable ads company and we’re very happy that they do care. If you see some obstructing ads, please get a screenshot and report to me. They hunt down the company who didn’t follow the rules and turn off those bad companies (but need a screen shot). I am always listening to my dear readers, so please do not hesitate to contact me. I am using my site every single day as well, and it is important that the website is working well for everyone.
Thank you very much for your feedback, Ashley!
Fantastic. Made my banh mi finally taste “exactly” like the kind at the market. Can’t wait to tackle okonomiyaki next.
Hi Spike! Cool! Hope you enjoy Okonomiyaki next! 🙂
Hi Spike. I swear I’m not trying to be one of those people but just wanted to clarify that a banh mi is a Vietnamese dish and the most authentic way to eat it is with French mayo. This is because the French colonized Vietnam long ago and as a result much of their/our cuisine is French inspired.
The Kraft and BestFood are an insult to mayonnaise. The Japanese mayo is very closed in taste to the Dijon Mayonnaise.
I wish American mayo is “tastier”…. a lot of people dislike mayo based on this mayo taste. 🙁
Hello.
How long can you store the mayonese in the fridge?
Hi Jorge! You can store the mayonnaise in an airtight container for about 4 days in the refrigerator (step 8). 🙂
can i use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Alex! I’ve never tried, but I “think” you need to use vegetable oil to get the right consistency, BUT I could be wrong…
Yes! You can use melted (but not warm) refined coconut oil (I would not use virgin because of the flavor) IF you plan to eat it all at one meal. The problem comes if you refrigerate mayo made with all coconut oil, it hardens in the fridge and it will not return to it’s original fluffy may consistency. I make mayo all the time with a combination of Avocado oil and coconut oil and I have found that as long as I keep the coconut oil to 1/4 of the of the total oil in your recipe, I have no problem with it solidifying. (For example, I make large batches at a time and use 1-1/2 cup avocado oil, and 1/2 cup coconut). It works great and has that lovely neutral taste.
Also, I want to mention I use an immersion blender in a milkshake cup to make my mayo…a very easy method for emulsifying! Look it up on YouTube.
Thank you so much for sharing your tip with us, Melissa!
Can I use other citrus juice, yuzu, lime, orange instead of lemon juice?
Hi Gary! Sure!!! Yuzu… yum!
Pro-Tip: the white cylinder on the top of your cuisinart has a little hole in the bottom. If you fill the cylinder with oil, the hole will allow a perfect steady stream of oil for making your mayo, or any other emulsification.
Hi Revo! THAT IS SO COOL! I’m notorious for not reading instruction manuals… Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m going downstairs to my kitchen to check it out!
I used to use the little white pusher to make mayo and it worked perfectly. I have a different Cuisinart now (same brand) and yesterday I tried using the little pusher to make my first batch of Kewpie mayo. TOTAL FAILURE!!! Now I don’t know who failed. Cuisinart or me?
Hi Valerie! Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. Hmmm I’m not too sure what happened. 🙁
Oh my! now I know there’s a use for that hole thingy. I just thought it was for air or something. LOL. Thank you so much for mentioning this.
Hi Mastura! Oh! Hahaha. I’m glad you figured it out. Better than never. 😉
Thanks! Ingenious idea and I never would have known if you hadn’t shared the reason for the hole. Adding oil is the hardest part to making mayo and now it’s going to be easy. Can’t wait to try it!🤗
The recipe was written using 1 egg yolk, however your step by step photo showing you were using 2 egg yolks. Which one is correct?
Hi Jos! THANK YOU for bringing my attention! I completely forgot to write that I doubled the recipe for my step by step pictures and final shots. For normal house use, I think the recipe amount is good enough, but it is too little for step by step pictures and final product, so I doubled the amount. Completely forgot to mentioned at Step 1. THANK YOU!!!!
So if I used 1 egg yolk and using hand whisk to make the mayo, how can I drizzle the oil while whisking with my other hand? 😅
Hi Jos, We recommend using the heavy bowl or putting a towel under the mixing bowl to secure the bowl. And use a metering cup etc., with a pour spout for the oil. You don’t need to mix too fast, but you have to whisk a lot! If you have an Immersion Hand Blender with a cup, it works great also.
We hope this helps!
Hi!
Just a quick question concerning the shortcut version.
Do you think it would work out if I added a pinch of MSG powder(because I have that at home) and used less sugar?
Hi Lisa,
MSG powder and sugar are different. We don’t recommend adding it to this recipe.
Can i use regular mustard instead of Dijon?
Hi Kessia! Sure! 🙂