Creamy and tangy with a consistent bite of texture, this Japanese Tartar Sauce is a beloved condiment to enjoy with your deep-fried or baked crunchy seafood dishes. Here‘s an easy and truly delicious tartar sauce recipe that you can make at home.
In Japanese cooking, tartar sauce is enjoyed with many deep-fried or baked crispy seafood dishes such as Ebi Fry and Crispy Salmon. You can easily whip up homemade tartar sauce that suits your taste.
How to Make Delicious Tartar Sauce at Home
The combination for a truly delicious tartar sauce incorporates eggs, sweet onion, pickles, fresh lemon juice, and some salt and black pepper. I recommend using Japanese mayonnaise for a creamier flavor if you can find it. The sauce can be made a few hours ahead, or use it immediately.
Recipes with Tartar Sauce
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Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- ¼ onion
- 1 pickle (you can also use 7 cornichons or 4 sweet gherkins)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ½ lemon (more or less, according to your taste)
- 4 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
- parsley (optional)
- 1 tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Add water to a saucepan and gently add 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell). Make sure the eggs are completely covered by the water. Bring the water to a boil on medium heat. Meanwhile, rotate the eggs with a spoon once in a while to keep the egg yolks in the center. Once the water boils, lower the heat to keep the water gently boiling (but don’t let the eggs jump around) for 12 minutes. Then, discard the water and run the eggs under cold water. When the eggs are almost cool, they are ready to peel.
- Meanwhile, mince ¼ onion finely (we call this cutting technique mijingiri in Japanese). Soak the minced onion in cold water for 10 minutes to get rid of the bitter flavor.
- Finely mince 1 pickle.
- Drain the onion after 10 minutes. Put the minced onion on a paper towel and squeeze the excess water out.
- In a bowl, break the eggs into small pieces with a fork.
- Add the minced pickles, minced onion, ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice from ½ lemon. Then, add 4 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, parsley (optional), and 1 tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard and mix all together. Cover and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
question…..when you say add karashi mustard….is that dry or is that have to be prepared?
Hi Bond! I mean it’s already prepared. Not the powder form.
Love your recipes!
How long can this tartar sauce keep for?
Hi Su! Probably 2-3 days. 🙂 Thank you so much for trying my recipes!
Hi Nami, can I substitute pickle or cornichons/gherkins with something else? If I don’t have it, can I skip that ingredients?
Hi Yuliana! I am so sorry for my late response. Yes, you can skip it if you don’t like the pickle tastes. If you’re okay, you can use “regular” pickles (for typical sandwiches) etc. Tartar sauce kind of relies on the pickle flavors though? Have you had tartar sauce before? If you don’t like it, skipping is okay. 🙂 Enjoy!
Thanks for reply my comment, Nami. Yes I try tartar sauce at restaurant before. Not sure if they use pickle in there but I like it. I will find some pickles to add on the tartar sauce like your recipe. Will see how it’s taste :).
Thank you so much ^^
Enjoy! 🙂
I live in Northern Virginia, can you tell me where I can buy Japanese mayonnaise? What brand should I look for? Thank you!
Hi Theresa! You can usually find in Asian store, and the most common brand is Kewpie mayonnaise. If you can’t find it, you can try making it with American mayonnaise. Please check this link below.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/japanese-mayonnaise/
Hope this helps. 🙂