Japanese Cabbage Salad is one of my favorite side dishes when I order tonkatsu. It’s creamy, nutty, and honestly really easy to make at home. The inspiration for this recipe actually comes from Gyu Kaku, one of my favorite Japanese BBQ restaurants. Their sauce is a little untraditional, but it's so good!
This recipe would go really well with my Japanese croquettes!
My favorite cabbage salad actually comes from Gyu Kaku. Their salad is more of a house salad (it has a lot of other ingredients than just cabbage, like tomatoes, eggs, and potato sticks), but the sauce is to die for. It is slightly tangier and has a bit of a ketchup/thousand-island dressing taste to it.
I remember during the pandemic in 2020, I spent a lot of time trying to replicate the cabbage salads from Japanese restaurants, but I could never get it to taste right. Fast forward to now, after another 4 years of cooking under my belt, I've been able to make it taste just as good as the restaurants.
Using a mandolin for thinly sliced cabbage
I highly recommend using a mandolin to get thin and consistent slices of cabbage. I've tried using just a sharp knife in the past but it doesn't work nearly as well. Just look how perfectly thin these slices are:
Should I add ketchup?
It's totally optional but I highly recommend it. Traditional Japanese cabbage salad doesn't use ketchup, but my favorite Japanese BBQ restaurant does and I really like it. If you decide not to add the ketchup, it will taste more like what you are typically used to.
Japanese Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- ½ small head green cabbage
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise (I'm using Kewpie)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Use a mandolin or sharp knife to cut the cabbage into very thin slices. On my mandolin, I set it to the lowest setting of 1/32 inch.
- Crush the sesame seeds into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle. You could also use a spice grinder.
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, toasted sesame oil, ketchup, rice vinegar, salt, sugar, and crushed sesame seeds.
- Start by mixing half the sauce with the cabbage. Taste it and if you like it saucier then add the rest. My wife is pretty picky so I usually just add half the sauce and then add more to my own portions.
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