Your mashed potatoes are missing something

Elyse Inamine and Jessie YuChen’s new book explains why you’ll want to use the iconic Japanese mayo for better meatballs, crispy chicken wings and tofu, and yes, mashed potatoes.

If I took you on a tour of my fridge, you’d find a shocking amount of mayo, especially considering that I used to swear I didn’t like it. There’s a vegan one that I use for subtle sauces where I want creaminess without an eggy flavor. There are Molly Baz’s Ayoh squeeeze bottles in at least two flavors. And then there’s always Kewpie from Japan.

Kewpie is the key to the spicy-creamy sriracha mix I drizzle on grain bowls and hand rolls, and I like to spread a little onto fish before slow-roasting, too. It’s savory and umami-rich, with a touch of sweetness that can help to tie together a dish.

Still, Elyse Inamine and Jessie YuChen’s new book, For the Love of Kewpie, showed me that my use of the stuff was woefully limited. You may not be surprised to see it zigzagged onto okonomiyaki or stirred into the filling of the classic Japanese-style egg sandwich. But they also use Kewpie to tenderize and bind meatballs, and they call for it as an easy dredge for tofu that crisps in the oven.

Kewpie is also the secret to easy mashed potatoes, Jessie says in this week’s podcast conversation: “You know, mayo is a product of emulsification.” That means a little bit can help to kickstart the process of making riced or hand-mashed potatoes supremely creamy. The mayo adds depth of flavor, Jessie explains, but more importantly, it “immediately gives it a velvety consistency. It’s just like, you know, why make it so hard for yourself?”

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On weeknights, making it easier on yourself is even more crucial. Jessie and Elyse share a few of their go-to quick dinner recipes, including a no-cook spicy tuna rice bowl that you can assemble even when you’re exhausted, and a simple but impressive-looking dish of salmon on rice that gets brushed with a sweet-savory-spicy sauce then quickly charred with a kitchen torch. (If your household doesn’t have one, I smell a good holiday gift…) You’ll find both recipes in full if you scroll down to the end of this newsletter.

I’m always curious how busy folks balance a cooking routine with full calendars—and how they stock their kitchens to avoid a fridge full of sludge that they didn’t manage to cook.

“I don’t want to waste things,” Jessie says, “and I don’t want to clean up if something gets moldy…I want to have vegetables in my diet, but they go bad so quickly.” Jessie solves this conundrum by always keeping dried mushrooms and dried seaweed in the pantry. They’re an easy addition to a range of meals, Jessie says, “so I can feel like, ‘oh, I have some fiber in my diet, but without the anxiety of vegetables rotting in my fridge.’”

Elyse has developed a two-pronged shopping approach that builds in flexibility.

Listen to the full conversation (or hit follow to save this episode for later) in your favorite podcast app.

Win a copy of For the Love of Kewpie

I love getting to share these books with you! There are two easy ways to enter to win a copy of For the Love of Kewpie.

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Elyse mentioned:

• Japanese Cooking Ichie Japanese curry video

• Everything You Need to Know to Make Hot Pot at Home (Bon Appétit)

• Eric Kim’s Cold Noodles with Tomatoes (NYT Cooking, gift link)

• The Cantonese Cook’s Soy Sauce Chicken

• Japanese Cooking Ichie’s miso soup video

• Andy Baraghani’s The Cook You Want to Be (Bookshop here), especially the garlicky roast chicken, juicy tomatoes with Italian chili crisp, and celery salad with blue cheese and honeyed nuts

• Naoko Takei Moore & Kyle McNaughton’s Donabe, especially the gyoza nabe and the napa cabbage hot pot.

• Ali Slagle’s Sunday Sauce (NYT Cooking, gift link)

Jessie mentioned:

• Sarah Jampel’s Seared Squash and Halloumi Burgers (Bon Appétit)

• Steamed eggs—you can also do this in the microwave

• S&B Golden Curry

• Victoria Blashford-Snell’s The Illustrated Kitchen Bible

• Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking

• Frankie Gaw’s First Generation

From the ad break:

• The Dinner Plan’s November Giveaway

• Frog Hollow Farm: Save 10% on your order with code DINNERPLAN10.

• Find LaBelle Patrimoine chicken at Whole Foods or GrownAsPromised.com

• Made In Cookware: Head to madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.

Maggie mentioned:

• Jessie’s Harissa-Roasted Eggplant (Bon Appétit)

• The Rice Factory New York

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Photo: Heamie Lee

Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl

Excerpted from For the Love of Kewpie by Kewpie Corporation, Elyse Inamine, and Jessie YuChen (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025.

Serves 2

This spicy tuna bowl is perfect for picnics or easy lunches at home. The recipe comes together in just two steps but is packed with big-flavor ingredients. canned tuna is thoroughly and intensely seasoned with a sauce made from pantry staples, then served over warm rice and topped with fresh crunchy cucumbers and sesame seeds. It’s a complete meal, simple but satisfying.

Rather than reserve the seaweed snacks for topping, you can keep them whole and use them like lettuce wraps to get a perfectly loaded bite.

One 5-ounce (140 g) can tuna (preferably oil- packed), drained
2 tablespoons Kewpie Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon rice vinegar
½ teaspoon toasted
sesame oil
3 cups (511 g) cooked sushi rice
1 mini cucumber, sliced
1 pack seaweed snack
¼ cup (30 g) thinly sliced scallions
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons chili crisp

1. In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, mayonnaise, sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to use; it’s good for up to 2 days if you’re meal-prepping.

2. To assemble the bowls, divide the rice and spicy tuna into 2 serving bowls. Add the cucumber slices and seaweed snack, and garnish with the scallions, sesame seeds, and the chili crisp. Serve immediately.

Photo: Heamie Lee

Torched Salmon Don

Excerpted from For the Love of Kewpie by Kewpie Corporation, Elyse Inamine, and Jessie YuChen (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025.

Serves 2

Heating mayonnaise may not seem like the most intuitive use of the ingredient, but the result is a thing of magic. In this recipe, marinated salmon fillets are finished with a mayonnaise-charged sauce and then torched, which intensifies the sweet and savory notes of the condiment while also caramelizing the surface. You need a high, concentrated heat for this effect, which means you’ll need to dig out (or buy) a butane-powered kitchen torch. It’s worth the investment. Once you try this torched mayonnaise method, you’ll want to finish all your proteins this way.

3 tablespoons (45 ml) Kewpie Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sriracha
1 teaspoon ketchup
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sake
2 salmon fillets (about 8 ounces/225 g total), sliced into ½-inch-thick (12 mm) slices
3 cups (511 g) cooked short-grain rice
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
2 lime wedges, for serving

1. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sriracha, ketchup, and oyster sauce. Stir well to combine and set the sauce aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the soy sauce and sake. Add the salmon and marinate for 5 minutes.

3. Lay the slices of salmon flat on a heatproof tray. Using a kitchen torch, sear the top side of the salmon until it becomes opaque and slight char marks appear. Flip the salmon slices with a small offset spatula or fork and torch the other side.

4. Divide the cooked rice evenly between two heatproof serving bowls. Arrange the cooked salmon slices over the rice, covering it as much as possible.

5. Spoon a thick layer of the sauce over the salmon and any rice peeking through. Torch the salmon until char marks appear on top.

6. Garnish the bowls with the scallions and serve with the lime wedges on the side. Enjoy immediately.