Nagaimo no mentai poteto sarada / Chinese yam salad with spicy salted pollock roe

Rich mayonnaise turns mashed nagaimo wonderfully creamy while mentaiko adds a soft spiciness.

1/2 of recipe:
130 calories; 4.2 g protein; 5.3 g fat; 16.4 g carbohydrate; 15.0 g net carbs; 79 mg sodium; 36 mg cholesterol; 1.4 g fiber


<Ingredients>

Approx. 200 g nagaimo Chinese yam (210 g in photo)
1/4 medium onion (34 g in photo)
1/2 small mentaiko spicy salted pollock roe sac (desalinated for 2 hours; 15 g in photo)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Rice vinegar (to soften onion; not in photo)
Korean red chili pepper, to taste (optional; not in photo)
Nori seaweed (for topping; not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Cut onion in half crosswise, and thinly slice.

Sprinkle rice vinegar, and rub.  

2.

Cut open mentaiko sac, and scrape out roe with back of knife.








3.

Skin and roughly dice nagaimo.

Cover, and microwave nagaimo until soft, for 2 minutes or so.









4.

Mash nagaimo, and mix in mentaiko while nagaimo is still hot.

Let cool.










5.

When cool, add mayonnaise, and mix.

Squeeze out excess water from onion, and mix in. 

Taste, add Korean chili pepper to taste, and mix well.









6.

Serve topped with thinly sliced nori.









<Notes>

• If you do not like the raw taste of mentaiko, microwaving the nagaimo + mentaiko mixture briefly (20-30 seconds?) should help.
• Because desalinated mentaiko is used, this will taste very mild. If slightly more saltiness is desired, add max. 1/4 tsp shiokoji salted rice malt. If using mentaiko that has not been desalinated, saltiness from mentaiko should be more than enough (and sodium content would be 150-180 mg instead of 79mg above).
• Onion slices give a pickle-like taste to this salad. If sourness is not desired, soak sliced onion in cold water, squeeze out excess water, and mix in. The fresh texture of onion is pleasant in this creamy salad.
• The above nutrition figures are based on homemade mayonnaise. When using store-bought mayonnaise, sodium would go up by 40 mg or so.