Japanese Potato Salad

Very thinly slice the cucumber and red onion, toss them with half a teaspoon of the salt, leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze dry.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks, and thinly slice the carrot. Boil the potatoes in water with the rest of the salt until just tender, about 12 minutes, adding the carrot for the last 3 minutes. Meanwhile, hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool them in cold water, then peel and chop them. Lift the carrot out with a slotted spoon and set it aside, then drain the potatoes well and return them to the pan over low heat for 1 minute to steam dry.

Sprinkle the hot potatoes with the rice vinegar, then roughly mash — leave plenty of chunks.

Cool completely, then fold in the cucumber, the onion, the carrot, the chopped egg, the Japanese mayonnaise, the Japanese mustard and the white pepper.

Chill for 30 minutes before serving.