Are you about to have naughty deep-fried food or fresh seafood? If so dip it into this delicious, zesty and chunky Japanese Tartar sauce!
Sports and finger food
Growing up my sister Nara and I hardly watched anything but sports on our TV, this was not by choice because our older brothers hogged the remote control. So instead of enjoying cartoons as we should’ve been, we would be watching grown men tackle each other and fighting for a ball!
My eldest brother would watch ‘OZ Aerobics’ early in the morning whilst eating his breakfast. Let’s just say that he definitely wasn’t interested in getting fit (eye-roll), he had other reason for watching those ladies in their tight leotards.
Considering that we spent so much time watching sports you would think I’m a massive fan……but NOPE! The only sports I watch is the Olympics and tennis.
I’ve been obsessed with tennis since a child, my favourite female player was Monica Seles and for the men, it was Pete Sampras. I still follow tennis religiously and as I am writing this I am watching the Australian Open. The big guns are now playing Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, how exciting!!!
Nothing is better than watching your favourite sports with delicious finger food. For this big tennis clash, I prepared some yummy seafood to serve with this irresistible Japanese style Tartar Sauce.
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Japanese Style Tartar Sauce
Is it Tartar or Tartare sauce? Whatever it is, it’s one of my favourite sauce to have with seafood. It’s creamy, zesty with crunchy bits of pickles in it, so delicious!
I love adding a few different variations to my tartar sauce, like adding chillies or garlic, I also love my WASABI PICKLE MAYO and eat it with almost everything!
Today I am sharing my friend’s Japanese Tartar sauce recipe.
Japanese Tartar sauce was introduced to me when I was invited to a picnic at the beautiful and scenic Royal Botanic Gardens. We all made dishes to share at the picnic, I made a large quiche. Emiko, my shy but very sociable Japanese friend made crumbed oysters and prawns with tartar sauce.
So whilst everyone was happily catching up and chatting I was busy devouring Emiko’s food. The golden fried seafood was delicious but what got my attention was her tartar sauce as it was lighter and chunkier than regular tartar sauce.
Emiko’s beautiful Japanese tartar sauce had many textures going on! I saw myself having it with fresh seafood or other friend proteins such as chicken or pork.
Lovely Emiko was so delighted when I asked for the recipe, she said it’s a big compliment when a recipe is requested.
The secret to Japanese Tartar sauce is finely chopped hard-boiled eggs! This along with the pickles is what gives the tartar sauce a nice chunky texture.
This recipe is from Emiko, but I have tweaked it a little so it can be easily made at home.
Ingredients for Japanese Tartar Sauce
Mayonnaise – If you wish to use traditional Japanese mayonnaise, an easy one to find is called ‘Kewpie’. I didn’t use it on this occasion as I didn’t have any in my pantry so I used whole egg mayonnaise which has a similar richness to Kewpie.
Horseradish (optional) – Traditionally Japanese mustard is used but I swapped it to horseradish as it’s more accessible. I find the mustard does not add to much heat, but it gives a little kick and adds depth to the sauce.
Dill (optional) – Dill is not traditionally used in Japanese tartar but I added it for extra freshness, and I love dill with seafood.
Pickles – Gherkins, cornichons or baby cucumbers can be used.
How to make Japanese Tartar Sauce
Step by step guide with photos
Boil the eggs for 13 to 15 minutes until they are hard-boiled. Allow the eggs to completely cool before peeling.
Use an egg slicer or knife to chop the eggs finely. Place the eggs, onions, dill, pickles and parsley into a bowl and gently mix to combine.
In a small bowl add in mayonnaise, lemon, horseradish and mix to combine. Pour the sauce over the egg mixture and gently combine. Taste the tartar sauce and add salt and pepper if needed.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days. This sauce is wonderful with my easy and tasty FRIED CRISPY HOT WINGS and the very delicious FRIED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
JAPANESE TARTAR SAUCE
Ingredients
- 3 large hard-boiled eggs (finely chopped)
- 45 gm onion (half of a small onion finely chopped)
- 50 gm pickles (finely chopped) (NOTE 1)
- 2 tsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ½ cup whole egg mayonnaise (NOTE 2)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
OPTIONAL:
- 2 tsp horseradish (NOTE 3)
- 2 tsp fresh dill (finely chopped) (NOTE 4)
Instructions
- Boil the eggs for 13 to 15 minutes until they are hard-boiled. Allow the eggs to completely cool before peeling. Use an egg slicer or knife to chop the eggs finely.
- Place the eggs, onions, dill, pickles and parsley into a bowl and gently mix to combine.
- In a small bowl add in mayonnaise, lemon, horseradish and mix to combine.
- Pour the sauce over the egg mixture and gently combine. Taste the tartar sauce and add salt and pepper if needed.
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.my family loved it.will be sharing this recipe with my friends.they will like it.
Hi Ashok,
You’re very welcome. Thanks for trying out this recipe and for coming back to leave a lovely comment. I’m so happy to hear your family loved it and I’m sure your friends will too!