Japanese Macaroni Salad
Tossed in a creamy, tangy and sweet dressing, this Japanese Macaroni Salad is the perfect side dish to serve at your next BBQ and cookout.
Servings: 4 (as side dish)
Ingredients
For Macaroni
- 4 oz uncooked elbow macaroni, (you can use penne, farfalle, fusilli, or spaghetti)
- 1 Tbsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt), (for boiling macaroni)
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, (I used Mizkan Natural Rice Vinegar)
- 1 tsp sugar
For the Salad
- 1 large egg (50 g w/o shell), (you can increase up to 2, but it’ll be more prominent egg taste)
- ½ onion, (3.5 oz, 100 g)
- 2 Persian cucumbers, (or 1 Japanese cucumber)
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt), (for sprinkling onion and cucumber)
- 4 slices ham, (3.5 oz, 100 g; you can substitute it with canned tuna, shredded cooked chicken, or corn)
Dressing
- 4 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make Japanese Mayonnaise
- You can make my Homemade Japanese Mayonnaise or modify American mayonnaise with Mizkan Natural Rice Vinegar and sugar. For 4 Tbsp of American mayonnaise (I use Best Foods/Hellmann’s Mayonnaise), add ½ Tbsp rice vinegar and ¾ tsp sugar. Whisk until sugar dissolves.
To Boil Macaroni
- Start boiling 3 quarts (12 cups, 2.8 L) water in a large pot (I used a 3.5 QT pot). Once boiling, add 1 Tbsp salt and macaroni. Cook according to the package instructions plus 1 minute more.
- Drain the macaroni and transfer to a large bowl. While hot, add 2 tsp olive oil.
- Add 1 Tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp sugar and mix well together. Set aside to let cool completely.
To Make Boiled Egg
- In a medium saucepan, add water that covers 1 large egg and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Optional Tip: If you want your egg yolk to be in the center, gently rotate the eggs with chopsticks once in a while for the first 3 minutes so the egg yolk will be in the center.
- Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and set a timer for 12 minutes (9 minutes for soft boiled egg). Once it’s done cooking, bring the pot under running water to cool or immediately transfer to an iced bath.
- Peel the egg and cut it into small pieces.
To Prepare Vegetables
- Cut off the ends and peel the onion. Cut into thin slices along the grain.
- Peel the cucumber skin, leaving some part unpeeled (so it looks nice) and cut off the ends.
- Thinly slice the cucumber (or use a mandolin). Put the sliced cucumber and onion in a medium bowl.
- Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and lightly massage with hand to evenly distribute the salt. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- When you see the liquid in the bowl, give the sliced vegetables a quick rinse to remove the salt.
- Squeeze water out and set aside.
- Cut the ham into small pieces, roughly ⅛ inch thick, 2 inch long pieces and set aside.
To Assemble Macaroni Salad
- When the macaroni is cool, add the ham and sliced cucumber and onion.
- Mix well together and add the chopped boiled egg.
- Add 4 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise and ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Mix all together.
- Taste the salad and see if you want to add more salt, pepper, or mayonnaise. Once the taste is good, chill the salad for 1 hour in the refrigerator before serving.
To Store
- You can keep the Japanese Macaroni Salad for up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator.