Share Your Table - Island-Style Potato-Mac Salad

Island-Style Potato-Mac Salad

Yields servings

Sides

Here’s a recipe from The Island Plate: 150 Years of Recipes and Food Lore from The Honolulu Advertiser (2005, Island Heritage). It first appeared in a story about summer picnics in the newspaper on May 20, 1987.

1/2 pound salad macaroni
1 teaspoon salt
2 salad potatos
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 can (16-ounce) tuna, drained (optional)
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (make a few slices for garnish)s
1/3 cup minced celery
1/3 cup minced or grated onion

Cook macaroni with salt according to package directions. Cook potatoes in briskly boiling salted water; drain and peel while hot. Chop potatoes into bite-size pieces.
In large bowl, combine macaroni and potatoes and flavor liberally with salt and pepper. Add mayonnaise (or half to three-quarters of mayonnaise if you want to refresh it just before serving). Mix gently. Add tuna, chopped eggs, celery and onion. Mix gently. Taste and correct seasonings. Cover and chill well.
Add remaining mayonnaise if desired and mix gently.

Origins
Origins: Mac Salad

Sides
Mac Salad

Mac Salad Tips

Ingredients

• Always use Best Foods mayonnaise.
• Be sure to use salad (aka waxy, new, boiling) potatoes, with thin skins, firm texture NOT baking potatoes (e.g. Russets).
• Use short, salad macaroni, not the longer, wider noodles.

Preparation

• Cook macaroni until tender but not mushy but definitely beyond al dente.
• Salt macaroni before dressing it.
• Grate onions and chop other ingredients very, very fine.
• Add half the mayo when the macaroni is still warm so the mayo soaks into the pasta; add the rest just before serving.
• Compose salad in this order: Boil salted water for macaroni. While it comes to a boil, mince additional ingredients. Cook pasta and drain well. Add mayonnaise while pasta is still hot. Add remaining ingredients and chill well. Add additional mayonnaise just before serving, as needed.

Options

•To create both flavor and a creamy texture, some people add a little canned, evaporated milk.
• I’ve heard that some places add a packet of saimin soup powder (dashi) to the mayonnaise. If you do this, don’t add salt until you’ve tasted the salad.