Honey Walnut Crispy Potato Salad
like fries dipped in mayo, and no shrimp or broccoli involved.
Have You Eaten Yet? Here’s a new recipe from my kitchen to yours that I hope you’ll love! For more recipes, you can pre-order my next cookbook, Chinese Enough, or purchase Mooncakes and Milk Bread for all things Chinese Baking!
I’ve always felt like I was powered by the Sun. Maybe it’s the Leo in me, but as long as the Sun is shining, I feel more inspired and actually energized to try out all the ideas floating around in my head. This is a nice and welcomed contrast to my other natural state of being a blanket burrito during the winter.
On Friday I went for a morning swim, recorded a really fun cookbook related thing that I will share with you soon, tested an apple and passionfruit tarte tatin, cleaned the kitchen, went on a neighborhood walk with a friend while snacking on puff pastry scraps dusted in sugar and cardamon, and then biked into Berkeley for beers and dinner. Am I a triathlete now? We made it home right before sunset, which is like 8:30 these days, and finally collapsed on the couch to watch 2 episodes of The Bear. The rest of the weekend consisted of two back to back San Francisco days, which when you move to the East Bay feels like a lot. It was worth it though to celebrate and spend time with friends. I also made a big tray of cosmic brownies and needed to not be left alone with them.
I will admit that I probably overdid it over the weekend. So, I’m very much looking forward to this short work week. We’re having a small gathering of friends over for the 4th and I promised myself I wouldn’t overexert myself. Reuben will be smoking some ribs and a pork shoulder. I will be making these Japanese Sweet Potato Buns for hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches, Typhoon Deviled Eggs (recipe is from Chinese Enough), and this Honey Walnut Crispy Potato Salad! It is essentially french fries tossed in mayo (gives honey mustard vibes actually) but under the disguise of a “salad”. I’m obsessed with it.
This is what you would consider a warm potato salad. It tastes amazing while the potatoes are hot and crispy out of the oven (again, they are like little spherical fries), but it’s still great warm, and honestly it tastes pretty good cold (I can confirm from sneaking a bite straight from the fridge). I promise it is not overly sweet. It’s definitely still a savory potato salad, but with a hint of sweetness and a little spice from the sambal and white pepper.
When I think of “honey walnut”, my brain immediately thinks of a platter of shrimp surrounded by broccoli at a Chinese banquet dinner. But I’ve come to realize that the flavors of that dish actually work on a lot of things besides fried shrimp. Like in my Hot Honey Walnut Tofu, which is a weeknight staple in our house, and in this case: crispy potatoes. I like to make my honey walnut sauce on the thinner side, less gloopy. The right ratios of mayo to honey create more like a delicate glaze rather than a thick coating of sauce. Traditional honey walnut sauce is often made with sweetened condensed milk, but I obviously went with honey instead. Another deviation in the sauce is the addition of sambal, which doesn’t necessarily make the dish spicy, but more so balances the sweet richness of the other main ingredients. A shower of toasted walnuts over top really drive the name home but also lend a really nice crunch. Best of all, this is really easy to make! If you’re nervous about mayo sitting out in the Sun during your bbq, just tell everyone to just grab some while the potatoes are hot!
Hope you have a great long weekend ahead!
Honey Walnut Crispy Potato Salad
Serves 4
1 1/2 lbs small yellow potatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 cup kewpie mayo
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sambal
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Green onion, for topping
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes in olive oil and salt. Arrange the potatoes so they are cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake until the undersides of the potatoes are crisp and golden brown, 20 to 24 minutes. Flip the potatoes and bake until overall crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.
In a deep dish or mixing bowl, mix to combine mayo, honey, sambal, and white pepper. Add the potatoes and toss to fully coat. Serve with a sprinkle of walnuts and green onions.
This dish looks amazing! Sounds like a busy yet lovely weekend you had. Happy Fourth!
This looks so good! Saved the tofu recipe for later too!