60-Second Addictive Potato Salad

Prepare the dried mashed potato (potato flakes). These are peeled, steamed, and mashed potatoes that have been dried, and they turn into mashed potato instantly with just hot water or milk.

Add warm milk to the potato flakes. Use milk rather than hot water for richness. Add butter for extra richness and aroma, then simply stir with a rubber spatula for instant mashed potato.

Balance the acidity with vinegar and add umami and depth with mentsuyu. Then add condensed milk, which blends in easily since it is liquid and brings a subtle natural sweetness and roundness to the flavor.

Stir well while letting the mashed potato cool down. Once cooled, add mayonnaise and mix thoroughly, then taste and fine-tune with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for a while.

Wash the cucumber, wipe it thoroughly dry, and cut it into slightly thick rounds. If sliced too thin, the texture weakens once the water is drawn out.

Transfer the cucumber to a bowl, sprinkle with salt and rub it in, then let it sit briefly so the salt penetrates. Osmosis draws out excess water and gives a crisp, crunchy texture.

Cut off the root end of the onion, slice it thinly, and add it to the same bowl as the cucumber.

Once the cucumber has released its water, add water to rinse off the excess salt, rubbing the onion at the same time to mellow its sharpness. Then squeeze the cucumber and onion hard to wring out excess water and pat them dry with paper towels.

Cut the ham one slice at a time into slightly large squares. Stacking the slices makes them cling together and hard to separate, so cutting them one by one from the start is easier to work with.

Take the mashed potato out of the refrigerator, wipe away any condensation on the inside of the bowl, then add the cucumber, onion, and ham. Fold roughly so the add-ins are not crushed and do not get buried too deep in the mashed potato.

Plate by layering the add-ins and mashed potato like a mille-feuille. Add cheese if you like, or swap the ham for bacon. Sprinkle black pepper at the end for a punch of flavor.