If you’ve ever been to a Korean restaurant, maybe they served you a small side dish of cold, smooth, slightly sweet mashed potatoes, almost like ice cream. It might have had some carrot or cucumber in it, which made it a little crispy. There was probably no more than an tiny scoop of it on the plate, and you were wishing the restaurant gave you more, maybe a lot more, in a large bowl!
Many people have asked me to post the recipe for this, and here it is: it’s called gamja-salad in Korean or simply “potato salad” in English. Because this is a newer dish in Korea, we borrow the English word “salad” for the name.
It’s a pretty simple dish to make, but you want to make sure you get the potatoes right, so they end up soft and creamy. There are actually two kinds of Korean potato salad: one is made of diced potatoes and vegetables (and sometimes fruit), and the other one, the one I’ll show you here, is made of mashed potatoes. Both styles use mayonnaise.
Whenever I make gamja-salad I always make a gamja-salad sandwich, too. Two pieces of toasted bread, with some gamja-salad spread over top a leaf crispy lettuce, it makes a quick, easy, and filling snack or lunch. Don’t eat it all! Your kids will love it, too! I used to make this for my children all the time. It was a great snack when they were studying hard, and a favorite in their packed lunchboxes.
Enjoy the recipe!
Ingredients
Makes about 2 pounds’ worth
- 1 pound peeled russet potatoes, cut into ½ inch thick pieces
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
- 1 English cucumber, washed, seeded, and chopped into pieces
- kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon white ground pepper (or black pepper)
- 2 tablespoons rice syrup (or sugar)
- ½ cup any mayonnaise (or canola cholesterol free mayonnaise)
Directions
- In a bowl, combine the cucumber with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and mix well. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it sweats out water. Strain and squeeze out excess moisture.
- Crack open the hard-boiled eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.
- Chop up the egg whites. Set aside.
- Grate an egg yolk for garnish: Press 1 egg yolk through a sieve (or wire strainer) with a wooden spoon. Set the other 2 egg yolks aside.
- Rinse the potato chunks in cold water to remove excess starch and place them in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add ½ cup water and a pinch of salt. Cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat.
- Remove from the heat. Drain any excess water, and put the cooked potato back to the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes over very low heat, to remove more moisture. Uncover.
- Mash the hot potato with a wooden spoon or a potato masher for 30 seconds and add the 2 cooked egg yolks and the egg whites. Keep mashing until well mixed.
- Add the squeezed cucumber, ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, and rice syrup. Mix it well with a wooden spoon. Add the mayonnaise and mix well. Cool it down at room temperature and keep it in the refrigerator. Serve cold as a side dish or snack.
Make a sandwich:
- Spread a scoop of chilled gamja-salad over a fresh leaf of lettuce, between two toasted pieces of bread. Serve or pack in a lunch with some fruit.
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Just made it this afternoon with my boy! We also added carrot and corn for extra veggie intake! I love all of your recipes! They make such a wonderful parent-child cooking activities at this special moment. Thank you so much for sharing!
The potato salad looks so good and I see a big smile on your son’s face! “They make such a wonderful parent-child cooking activities at this special moment.” I’m so happy to hear that!
I’m a diabetic so I always try to use as little sugar and starch. With this recipe, can I sub the potatoes for sweet potatoes?
Hi Maangchi
I made Gamja salad along with yangneom tongdak last Sunday but I forgot to post the picture here.
It was so delicious that I couldn’t control myself and I kept on eating it. I love potatoes! Thanks maangchi for this amazing recipe. This will be my go to potato salad/mashed potato recipe hereafter.
It looks so creamy, fluffy, and delicious!
Speaking of potato sandwiches, I love to sliced the potatoes in thin disks and fry them in oil till they’re a little crunchy and put that on a sandwich with mayonnaise :)
I use celery and green onion and bell pepper :)
I’ve made this several times and it’s always delicious. I love it! Just a note that a couple of things are left out of the recipe. First, putting in the chopped egg whites. Not in the recipe. Also the rice syrup or sugar, not in the recipe. If you make this, be sure to follow the instructions in the video. Maangchi, you naught want to correct the recipe.
oh my goodness! Thank you so much for pointing it out. I fixed it now!
Can I use celery instead of cucumber? No cucumbers left in my fridge but have plenty of celery. Thanks!
I had made this but I wonder how long I can keep it inside the fridge? :)
You can keep it in the fridge up to 1 day(24 hours).
If you keep it longer, water comes out of the cukes.
I made this recipe, potato salad, and my family liked it. For the potatoes, I used red potatoes. For the English cucumber, I used Persian cucumbers. The yellow yolk was finely chopped.
I am looking forward for more easy recipes, like the potato salad.
Hi Maangchi, I can’t seem to post on your forum for the recipe request, is it ok if I make my request here?? Could you make and share the recipe of Squid Sundae 오징어 순대??
Thank you :)
Very high-calorie dish, eggs + potatoes + bread )
I have the exact egg timer!
oh yeah! : )
I always make dosirak(lunch box).
But ideas empty.
Today you gave me gift recipe.
Thank you^^
Wonderful!
Where you get your potato peeler. Can you add the website link so I can purchase one?
I bought it when I visited LA Koreatown a few months ago. https://www.maangchi.com/blog/exploring-koreatown-la
This looks delicious! Will try it out!
oh, Krynauw! It’s been a long time! Cheers! : )
Oh the photos look so beautiful! My favorite kbbq place makes variations of the salad. Sometimes with pear, sometimes smooth and sometimes diced. All of the time, GOOD! I have even seen sweet potato versions.
yes, you can add apple, too. I used to add crispy persimmon and it is also very delicious.