Crisp cucumber, soft-boiled eggs, avocado, broccoli, and succulent pieces of shrimp in a creamy dressing, this Japanese Shrimp and Broccoli Salad is so easy and delicious in every bite. A perfect salad to be thrown together for a lunch on the go!
I loved seafood growing up in Japan where there are so many seafood choices. Besides various kinds of fish, one of my favorite ingredients from the ocean is shrimp.
Today I’m sharing a quick and delicious Shrimp and Broccoli Salad recipe made with shrimp, avocado, boiled eggs, and broccoli. These four ingredients have different textures and flavors, yet when you combine them all together, the result is a really nice and creamy flavorful salad.
Shrimp and Broccoli Salad from Japanese Deli
If you’re familiar with Osozai (お惣菜) or deli in a department store in Japan, this is one of the most popular salads – Broccoli & Shrimp Salad (ブロッコリーと海老サラダ). The recipe is quite simple and ingredients are likely to be in your fridge or pantry.
To replicate the flavor of the salad from deli stores, I highly recommend using Japanese mayonnaise for this recipe because Japanese mayonnaise and American mayonnaise tastes a bit different. Japanese mayonnaise is a bit sweeter and has a tangy taste. If you cannot find it, please try adding rice vinegar and sugar to your regular mayonnaise (click here for more info).
As a personal preference, I like my hard-boiled eggs to be cooked tiny bit on the soft side (but not soft-boiled eggs). The egg yolks should still show bright yellow in the center of the yolk and the texture is a bit soft. That way, when you mix it up with the rest of the ingredients, the moist egg yolks stay together instead of falling apart and gives nice bright color to the salad. If the egg yolk is fully cooked it’s likely to crumble apart.
How I Enjoy Shrimp and Broccoli Salad
I like this refreshing salad should be served slightly chilled, but you can serve it at room temperature as well. Don’t be afraid to add some salt to season the salad instead of adding more mayonnaise. Without salt, the taste can be a bit bland, and salt brings in all the flavor together nicely. The most interesting part of this salad for me as I mentioned before is the texture. The crisp cucumber with the soft texture of chopped eggs and avocado, mixed with succulent shrimp and tasty broccoli goes with many types of meal. I hope you enjoy this salad as much as my family does.
Watch How To Make Shrimp and Broccoli Salad
Delicious and simple salad with crisp cucumber, chopped soft-boiled eggs, avocado, and mixed with succulent pieces of shrimp and tasty broccoli.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Shrimp and Broccoli Salad
Video
Ingredients
- 6-7 shrimp
- ½ Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch (to clean shrimp)
- pinch kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 6 oz broccoli florets
- 1 avocado
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber (I use Persian cucumber here)
Dressing
- 2-3 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (For 1 Tbsp of American mayonnaise, add ½ tsp rice vinegar and ⅛ tsp sugar and whisk together.)
- 1 tsp milk (or heavy cream)
- ½ tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Clean shrimp with cornstarch and devein (check out my tutorial). Keep the shell on so the shrimp won’t lose the flavor while being cooked.
- Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add sake and salt (to remove smell) and the shrimp and reduce the heat to medium. Cook uncovered for 2 minutes or until the shrimp turns opaque.
- Monitor closely to avoid overcooking. Remove with a mesh strainer to a bowl of iced water to let cool. The ice bath will help the shrimp have a firm texture.
- Peel the shrimp shell and cut it into bite-size pieces.
- In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium and cook the eggs for 10 minutes. Transfer the eggs to iced water and let cool for 3 minutes to stop cooking.
- Peel the eggshell and cut into small pieces.
- Cut broccoli florets in bite-size pieces. Bring water to a boil in the medium saucepan and cook broccoli for 1 minute or till tender. Watch closely to avoid overcooking.
- Transfer to iced water to stop cooking further and drain well.
- Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise. Then cut into ¼ inch (6 mm) slices.
- Cut avocado into cubes and scoop out the avocado into a large bowl with a spoon.
- Put all the ingredients in the bowl, and add mayonnaise and milk.
- Sprinkle salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss all together. Add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
