Korean Potato Salad (Gamja Salad) (2024)

You are in for a treat with this super simple but delicious Korean Potato Salad. Also known as Gamja Salad, this potato salad consists of light and fluffy mashed potatoes with a twist. Hints of sweetness and bits of extra crunch and freshness from cucumbers and carrots make for a delightful bite!

If you’ve never tried Korean potato salad before, then you are going to want to whip up a batch ASAP. It’s absolutely addictive and I can eat a whole bowl on its own as a meal. Packed with flavour and texture, this is a side dish you’re not going to want to miss.

There’s this one Korean restaurant in Toronto that had THE BEST potato salad that I literally cried when H told me they had closed down. It’s been years and I still think of them and their potato sauce. This recipe is pretty much a tribute to them because I have yet to find another place that does potato salad as amazing as they did (well, there’s one but they only ever give me a tablespoon’s worth of potato salad banchan and it makes me very sad).

Ingredients You’ll Need

• russet potatoes — you do NOT want a waxy potato to mash up. Russet potatoes are what you need for a delicious potato salad.
• carrot — to get the small pieces, I use a julienne peeler and then dice them up finely. You can also use a box grater to get the small pieces.
• cucumber — it may seem like an odd add-in but trust me, you’ll like the texture it adds! I use a small seedless cucumber.
• Kewpie mayo — sorry, but regular mayo is not going to cut it here. You want Kewpie mayo as it’s made with only egg yolks, making it much more creamy and luxurious. There’s also hints of sweetness in it that regular mayo doesn’t have.
• sugar — just your plain ol’ white granulated sugar.
• rice vinegar — make sure to get the unseasoned rice vinegar.
• salt and pepper — instead of black pepper, I used white pepper so it blends in seamlessly with the potato salad.
• hard boiled eggs — there are a few ways to make your hard boiled eggs. You can air fry them, cook them in the Instant Pot, or boil them on the stovetop. Take your pick.

How to Make Korean Potato Salad

• Place sliced cucumbers on a paper towel and sprinkle salt over top. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then squeeze them with the paper towel to absorb the water.
• In another paper towel, add the grated carrots and squeeze them until excess water is absorbed on the towel.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil with the potatoes. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, around 10 to 15 minutes.
• Transfer the cooked potatoes to a large bowl and mash.
• Add the Kewpie mayo, sugar, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.

• Add the cucumbers, carrots, and diced (or grated) eggs to the potato mixture.
• Stir until well combined. Add more mayo, salt, or pepper if needed.
• Serve immediately or after chilling.

Recipe Tips

• There are a few ways to incorporate the eggs for this potato salad. While I just use an egg slicer to dice them into small pieces, another popular method is grating the eggs. You can grate the entire egg so it blends more seamlessly into the potato salad. You can also separate the hard boiled egg whites and yolk and grate just the whites then when serving, grate the yolk on top. I don’t mind mine diced since I like the texture.
• Add-ins are pretty endless! Other popular add-ins for the gamja salad are apple corn, bell pepper, diced ham, and more!
• Whenever I’m at a resturant, the banchan is usually served with a giant ice cream scoop or small cookie scoops. I love how it looks that way compared to just spooning potato salad into a bowl.
• Gamja salad keeps really well in the fridge. Keep it in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I prefer enjoying this chilled so I serve it straight from the fridge.

More Banchan Recipes To Try

Need some more side dishes to serve with dinner? Try these ones:

• Mayak Eggs
• Japchae
• Silken Tofu
• Seasoned Spinach
• Korean Corn Cheese

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