Korean Potato Salad Sandwich (Salada Ppang 사라다빵)

Korean potato salad sandwich (사라다빵) that tastes exactly like the ones I grew up eating in Korea. Bits of pickled cucumbers and onions add a perfect crunch to this incredibly delicious creamy potato salad sandwich. Once you taste it, you will want to make this again and again.

Korean Potato Salad Sandwich or Korean Salad Sandwich to be more precise is probably one of the top Korean foods I wanted to make for myself after I started living in the US. Because when I was growing up, just about any good Korean bakery sold this absolutely yummy Salada Ppang.. lol.. BTW, ‘salada’ is a Koreanized word of the English word salad.

About Korean Potato Salad Sandwich (Salada Ppang)

First, you need to know that there are actually 2 different kinds of ‘salad sandwiches’ in Korea. I would call the first one as a Korean potato salad sandwich since it’s filled with a creamy potato salad. The other one is a creamy mayo-based slaw kind of salad which usually has julienned cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, ham and more but no potatoes.

Others may say differently but for me, the potato salad sandwich is THE Salada ppang 😝 so I’m going to share that one here first. I will soon share the other version.

The best bread for Korean Sandwiches

What is the best bread to use for Korean sandwiches? Of course, I can’t generalize for all Korean sandwiches but in general, for Korean sandwiches like egg salad, slaw salad, street toast or this Korean potato salad sandwich, a SOFT MILK BREAD works best. Because these all have a hint of sweetness in them the mild sweetness of the milk bread works wonderfully well together.

Make your own sweet milk bread at home using my MILK BREAD recipe! FYI, I also have a bread machine milk bread recipe that doesn’t use Tangzhong which makes it even simpler to make.

Serving Suggestions

These Korean potato salad sandwiches are great in lunchboxes or use small brioche or sweet rolls to make little mini sandwiches as party appetizers! Or you can just have them as a side salad to any meal but should be good especially with BBQs or Korean Fried Chicken.

Korean Potato Salad Sandwich (사라다빵 Salada Ppang) Recipe

Ingredients

Makes 4 dinner rolls or 2 sandwiches

• 4 dinner rolls or 4 sandwich bread slices
• 12 oz Russet Potatoes (avoid waxy potatoes)
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1/2 tsp rice or apple vinegar
• 2 slices of Deli Ham
• 1/2 cup cucumbers sliced, Korean, English, Persian cucumbers work best
• 1/2 cup onions, yellow
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Rinse whole potatoes with skin on and steam them. If the potatoes are really big or if you want to reduce the cooking time, you can cut the potatoes into 1/2 or even 1/4s but with skin on.
2. Cook on STOVE TOP – place potatoes in the steamer basket and add water in the lower pot and steam for 35 min or longer until fork goes into the potato very easily.
3. Slice cucumber and onions to make 1/2 cup each. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise so the seeds are exposed. Carve out the seeded center and then cut cucumber into1/8″ or 0.3 cm thin slices. Slice onions into thin slices.
4. Pickle vegetables – In a bowl, add the cucumber and onion slices sprinkle 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp sea salt. Toss lightly and let it sit for 10 min or longer.
5. Remove excess liquid from vegetables – Once the cucumbers and onions are nicely pickled (should be limp with lots of the juice in the bowl), wrap the vegetables using a linen cloth or a Korean hemp steam liner in a ball and wring out excess liquid by wringing it with your hands. Remove the vegetables and set aside. Watch my video to see what I mean.
6. Peel potatoes – Remove potatoes from the steamer and let it cool for a few minutes. When it’s cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.
7. Mash and season potatoes – Put potatoes into a large bowl and using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Add sugar, salt, milk and mayonnaise. Start with 2 Tbs milk and 1/4 cup mayo and see if you like the consistency. Also, add a splash of vinegar. It should be like very creamy wet mashed potatoes. Add more milk if needed.
8. Add the pickled vegetables to the potato salad mix.
9. Cut ham into squares. Don’t cut them too small because you won’t taste them if you do. Add to salad and mix. TASTE and adjust any seasoning.
10. Fill your buns/rolls or make a sandwich using bread slices (try making my Milk Bread for this) with the potato salad filling. Be sure to stuff a lot so you get a good bread to salad ratio. I fill about 1/4 cup filling to one small dinner roll.

OTHER WAYS TO STEAM POTATOES for Korean Salad Sandwich

• MICROWAVE for 6 to 8 min with skin on until very soft. Cut potatoes into 1/2 or 1/4 to cook faster.
• PRESSURE RICE COOKER– place potatoes in the pressure rice cooker (I use cuckoo) with about 1 cup of water at the bottom then line with the steamer rack and put the potatoes. Set the cooker to Steam (만능찜 Man-neung Jjim) function for 30 minutes.

Watch my Video Shorts on How to make Korean Bakery Salad Sandwich (사라다빵)

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5 from 1 vote

Korean Potato Salad Sandwich (Salada Ppang 사라다빵)

Korean potato salad sandwich (사라다빵) that tastes exactly like the ones I grew up eating in Korea. Bits of pickled cucumbers and onions add a perfect crunch to this incredibly delicious creamy potato salad sandwich. Once you taste it, you will want to make this again and again.

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 35 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

serves: 4 rolls

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 dinner rolls or 8 sandwich bread slices
• ▢ 12 oz Russet Potatoes
• ▢ 1 Tbsp sugar
• ▢ 2 Tbsp milk
• ▢ 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
• ▢ 1/2 tsp rice or apple vinegar
• ▢ 1/2 tsp sea salt
• ▢ 2 pcs deli ham thicker slices work better

Pickle vegetables

• ▢ 1/2 cup onions yellow
• ▢ 1/2 cup cucumbers sliced Korean, English, Persian cucumbers work best
• ▢ 1 tsp sugar
• ▢ 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

• Rinse whole potatoes with skin on and steam them. If the potatoes are really big or if you want to cut the cooking time, you can cut the potatoes into 1/2 or even 1/4s but with skin on.
• Stovetop – place potatoes in the steamer basket and steam for 35 min or longer until fork goes into the potato very easily.
• Slice onions into thin slices. Should make about 1/2 cup.
• Slice cucumber in half lengthwise so the seeds are exposed. Carve out the seeded center and then cut cucumbers into1/8" or 0.3 cm thin slices. Should make about 1/2 cup.
• Pickle cucumber and onion slices by sprinkling sugar and sea salt. Toss lightly and let it sit for 10 min or longer.
  
• Once the cucumbers and onions are nicely pickled (should be limp with lots of the juice in the bowl), wrap the vegetables in a ball with a linen cloth or a Korean hemp steam liner. Wring out excess liquid by wringing it with your hands. Remove the vegetables and set aside. Watch my video to see what I mean.
  
• Cut ham into squares. Don't cut them too small because you won't taste them if you do.
  
• Remove potatoes from the steamer and let it cool for a few minutes. When it’s cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.
• Mash the potatoes until smooth using a ptoato masher. Add sugar, salt, milk and mayonnaise. Start with 2 Tbs milk and 1/4 cup mayo and see if you like the consistency. Also add a splash of vinegar. It should be like a very creamy wet mashed potatoes. Add more milk if needed.
• Add the pickled vegetables and ham to the potato salad and MIX. Adjust seasoning as needed.
  
• Fill your buns/rolls od make a sandwich with the potato salad filling. Be sure to stuff a lot so you get a good bread to salad ratio. I fill about 1/4 cup filling to one small dinner roll.

Tips & Notes:

• Note about sodium level – the actual level should be much lower since we discard the pickling liquid from pickling the veggies
• Alternate methods for cooking potatoes for Korean salad sandwich – Microwave for 6 to 8 min. until very soft OR Pressure Rice cooker – place potatoes in the pressure rice cooker (I use cuckoo) with about 1 cup of water at the bottom then line with the steamer rack and put the potatoes. Set the cooker to Steam (만능찜 Man-neung Jjim) function for 30 minutes.

• Don’t think regular potato salad – please don’t think you are making a regular potato salad. The version you are making for the Korean sandwich should be wetter. Depending on the kind of potato, how the potato is cooked and whether it’s a fresh crop or not, the creaminess of your potato will be different. So.. learn to adjust the creaminess by increasing or decreasing the amount of milk and mayonnaise.
• Use Hawaiian sweet rolls, soft brioche bun, roll, milk bread or milk rolls. Try my milk bread recipe to make your own bread at home if you’d like.
• Additional ingredients – apples and cabbages can be added but cabbages should be pickled so the moisture is drawn out. Apples should be added only last minute right before serving so it doesn’t make the salad too watery.
• Storage – the potato salad will stay fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days so you can make ahead and make a big batch. Already assembled sandwiches will be good for a day but bread will become soggy so I don’t recommend making sandwiches too much ahead of time.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 311kcal (16%)| Carbohydrates: 42g (14%)| Protein: 6g (12%)| Fat: 14g (22%)| Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)| Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g| Monounsaturated Fat: 4g| Trans Fat: 0.03g| Cholesterol: 7mg (2%)| Sodium: 768mg (33%)| Potassium: 468mg (13%)| Fiber: 3g (13%)| Sugar: 7g (8%)| Vitamin A: 36IU (1%)| Vitamin C: 7mg (8%)| Calcium: 104mg (10%)| Iron: 2mg (11%)

Author: JinJoo Lee

Course:Appetizer, Lunch, Salad

Cuisine:Korean

Keyword:potato noodles, sandwich

KoreanCategory:Bread (빵)

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