Creamy & tangy with a consistent bite of texture, Tartar Sauce is a beloved condiment often enjoyed with Japanese seafood dishes. Here’s an easy tartar sauce recipe you can make at home.
In Japanese cooking, tartar sauce is enjoyed with many deep-fried or baked crispy seafood dishes such as Ebi Fry and Crispy Salmon. You can easily whip up homemade tartar sauce that suits your taste.
How to Make Delicious Tartar Sauce at Home
The combination for a truly delicious tartar sauce incorporates eggs, sweet onion, pickles, fresh lemon juice and some salt & pepper. I recommend using Japanese mayonnaise for a creamier flavor if you can find it. The sauce can be made a few hours ahead, or use it immediately.
Recipes with Tartar Sauce
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- ¼ onion
- 1 pickle (7 cornichons or 4 sweet gherkins)
- ¼ tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- ½ lemon (more or less according to your taste)
- 4 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- parsley (optional)
- 1 tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Put water in a saucepan, and gently put eggs. Make sure the eggs are completely covered by water. Bring the water to boil on medium heat. Meanwhile you rotate the eggs with a spoon once in a while (this is a tip to make sure the egg yolk will be in center). Once the water boils, lower heat but keep the water boiling (but don’t let the eggs jumping around) for the next 12 minutes. Discard the water and run under cold water. When eggs are almost cool, they are ready to peel.
- Meanwhile you dice the onion finely and soak the onion in cold water for 10 minutes to get rid of bitter flavor.
- Finely chop the pickles.
- Drain the onion after 10 minutes. Put it the center of paper towel and squeeze the excess water out.
- In a bowl, break the eggs into small pieces with a fork.
- Add the pickles, the onion, salt, and pe,pper and squeeze some lemon juice. Then add the mayonnaise (also parsley and karashi mustard) and mix all together. Cover and keep it in the fridge until used.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.