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Japanese Pasta Salad

Japanese Pasta Salad

5 from 1 vote
This colorful and flavorful pasta salad isn't your ordinary Japanese pasta salad. Made with traditional Japanese ingredients, it's a great new side dish for your next potluck or a cookout!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb bow-tie pasta or any other kind of pasta
  • 2 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 - 5 slices ham
  • 1 1/2 cups English cucumbers, seeded and partially peeled
  • 1/2 white onion, medium sliced thin
  • 3 green onions finely chopped
  • paprika, ground cayenne powder or Shichimi pepper optional
Dressing
  • 1 cup mayonnaise Japanese, regular, or blend the two
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Method
 

  1. Cook the pasta al dente according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  2. Slice the onion thinly and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Massage the salted onions and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  Rinse with water then squeeze the washed onions to get as much moisture out.
  3. Cut up ham into small strips.  Seed and partially peel the cucumbers (leaving some green peel for color) then slice them into matchsticks.
    Sliced cucumbers for Japanese Pasta Salad
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Add pasta, cucumbers, ham and onions into the dressing. Mix to coat the dressing.
    Mayonnaise based dressing for Japanese Pasta Salad
  5. Garnish with hard boiled eggs and green onion.
  6. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. (Optional: sprinkle Shichimi or paprika pepper right before serving.)