Potato salad is an essential part of the holiday table, but few people know how to prepare it so that the potatoes remain soft and at the same time do not fall apart. The secret is not in the type of potatoes or the amount of mayonnaise, but in how you cook them.
Potato salad is a classic . Nevertheless, it often happens that potatoes only partially hold their shape during preparation, some pieces fall apart, others are hard in the middle. The secret of perfect potatoes for salad is not in expensive ingredients, but in a simple cooking procedure. Properly cooked potatoes keep their shape, remain soft and the salad tastes exactly as it should.
For a video from The Pregnant Chef with a recipe for traditional potato salad, check out YouTube:
“My tip for a perfect potato salad is to add a few drops of lemon juice and a spoonful of mustard to the dressing when you’re mixing the potatoes. This way, the flavors combine better and the potatoes stay firm, because the acid in the lemon slightly stabilizes the starch,” advises chef David Šlapák.
The trick that decides
The most important thing is to cook the potatoes in their skins and start in cold water. The skin protects the potatoes from falling apart and uniform heating. If you put them straight into boiling water, the edges would overcook, while the center would remain hard and the potatoes would break when cut.
Do not rinse with cold water after cooking. Just let them rest for a while and then peel them. This stabilizes the starch and the potatoes do not fall apart when cut.
Potato salad recipe with firm potatoes
Raw materials:
- 1 kg of potatoes suitable for salad
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 small onion
- 150 g of sterilized peas
- 200 g of mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons of mustard
- salt and pepper
- vinegar to taste
Procedure:
Wash the potatoes thoroughly and put them in cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender but not cooked through. Let the potatoes cool for a while, peel them and cut them into cubes. Add the chopped eggs, onion and peas. Mix with mayonnaise, mustard, season with salt, pepper and possibly vinegar. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld.
Why this trick works
Cold water and cooking in the skin will ensure even heating and protection of the potatoes. Indirect cooling after cooking stabilizes the starch so that the potatoes do not fall apart when cut. Thanks to this, the individual pieces are soft, hold their shape and the salad looks and tastes perfect.
Following this simple trick will turn making potato salad from a risky operation into a sure thing. The potatoes will be perfectly soft but firm, in short exactly as they should be in a good salad. All you need is the right start of cooking, a few minutes of patience, and the result will never disappoint you.
