Korean Potato Salad (Gamja Salad)

Today we’re making Korean Potato salad, which is one of my absolute favorite types of potato salad. It’s typically served as a banchan (side dish) at Korean restaurants. I like that it’s not as wet as the American variety and that it has a better texture. It can be slightly sweet depending on whether or not you choose to add fruit into, it like apples and raisins. I personally like to add in the apples but not the raisins. I’m just not a raisin person unless it’s cover in chocolate, and I’m not putting Raisinets in potato salad LOL. That doesn’t even sound remotely appetizing ahaha.

Anyways if your here it’s because you probably also like Korean potato salad and wanna learn how to make some! This recipe is super fast and the longest step is actually boiling the potatoes! It’s an easy pour and mix 😁

The recipe below is adapted from Kimchimari and Maangchi.

Korean Potato Salad (Gamja Salad)

One of the best side dishes to eat with Korean BBQ! Its super fast to put together and you'll be making it all the time.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb potatoes
• ¾ cup 100 grams english cucumbers
• ¼-1/2 cup diced honey crisp apples
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• ½ cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 ¼ teaspoon kosher Salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

 

• Start by peeling and washing your potatoes, then place them in a pot of water to boil on high heat with 1 teaspoon salt. Once they become soft enough to mash with a fork, mash all of them. This can take around 15-20 minutes depending on the heat of your stove
• Boil your eggs until they are hard boiled. Once they are hard boiled, separate and reserve 1 whole egg yolk. Mash or grate the single egg yolk and set aside to use for garnish later. Cube the remaining egg whites and egg yolk and set a side. *If you don’t really care for the garnish you can just dice the eggs without separating 1 yolk.
• Wash and cut your cucumbers in half along the long side, then slice them about as thin as a coin (This should produce half moon shaped cucumbers). Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of salt on the sliced cucumbers, then mix them thoroughly to ensure that they all have some salt. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes so the excess water releases. After rinse them in cold water and squeeze any excess water out. Set them aside for later.
• Peel, wash, and dice your apple into 1 cm cubes. Then set aside.
• Once you have completed all of the previous steps, in a large bowl combine the mashed potatoes, and cucumber. Mix until they are well combined.
• Add in the mayo, 1 teaspoon salt, sugar, and black pepper. Stir until well combined.
• Add in the diced egg whites and egg yolk, then gently mix to incorporate.*If you reserved and egg yolk and mashed/grated it, do not add that in at the step.
• Taste and adjust salt/sugar if needed. If everything is all set, you can serve as is or chill and serve when needed! It can be store in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days.

Notes

*I personally like to cube the potatoes to about 1 inch cubes, so that they cook faster. It’s important to try to keep them all similar sizes.

*If you enjoy lots of apples in your potato salad, use ½ cup. If not stick with ¼ cup.

*I personally like to use an ice cream scoop to replicate how they serve it in restaurants!

Optional: Sprinkle some of the grated egg yolk on top of each serving! This is purely optional and if you choose to skip it, make sure you cubed up the egg yolk and added it in the previous step where we added the other eggs.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Commonly Asked Questions

What kind of potatoes should I use?
I personally used russet potatoes for this recipe, however you can use whichever potato you normally will use to make mashed potatoes.

Can I use any other type of apples?
I personally like honey crisps for heir texture and sweetness. You may use other types, however the flavor and texture will not be the same. It really is a personal preference, but I do recommend honey crisps.

I can’t find english cucumbers, can I use others?
If you can’t find english cucumbers, I recommend persian cucumbers as a second best choice. Other cucumbers tend to have larger seeds. If you decide to use those, besure to deseed the cucumbers.