Japanese mayo is my go-to condiment for sandwiches, pasta salads, and simple vegetable dishes. Packed with fruity notes and infused with umami, it’s become a favorite among famous chefs (David Chang calls it “the best mayonnaise in the world”). Let me show you how to make it at home in less than 10 minutes!
I have two Japanese mayo recipes for you today – one is made from scratch while the other uses ready made mayonnaise mixed with some easy-to-find ingredients.
They are both easy to make and super delicious!
Table of contents
What is Japanese Mayo?
When people refer to Japanese mayo they are talking about one specific brand of mayonnaise – Kewpie Mayo (キューピーマヨ). The mayonnaise is sold in a soft clear plastic bottle with a red squeeze cap and has a kewpie doll as a logo.
Toichiro Nakashima invented Kewpie mayo in 1924 after a trip to the US where he discovered mayonnaise. He brought the idea back to Japan with the goal of creating his own mayonnaise – one that would be nutritious and tasty enough for everyone to enjoy.
What Does Kewpie Mayonnaise Taste Like?
Kewpie mayo is sweet and fruity, has a hint of umami and an assertive eggy taste. It’s a less sweet version of Miracle Whip and has a richer flavor than the original Spanish mayonnaise. It’s light yellow in color and the consistency is thicker than regular mayo.
It’s important to note that the Kewpie mayo sold in Japan tastes slightly different than the US version. That’s because MSG is used in the Japanese recipe for an added kick of umami but has been removed here in the US because it’s still viewed as a bad ingredient (this myth has been debunked for years by the way, you can read all about it here).
So if you want to taste the real thing you will have to take a trip to the land of the rising sun.
What’s the Difference Between Japanese Mayo and Regular Mayonnaise?
- Regular mayonnaise is made using whole eggs, oil, vinegar (distilled, white wine, or champagne), lemon juice, salt, and sugar. The color is off white and it has a mild tangy and sweet taste.
- Japanese mayo (kewpie) is made using only the yolk part of the eggs, oil, vinegar, salt, MSG, and a mix of natural spices and flavorings. The taste is assertively bright, fruity, tangy, and eggy.
Ingredients for Homemade Japanese Mayo
- Eggs: While regular mayonnaise uses the entire egg, only the yolk is used for Kewpie mayo. You are going to need two for this recipe.
- Dashi powder: I’m using 1/4 teaspoon to add umami to the mayo but you are free to add more if you’d like it to be more funky. Don’t go overboard though! I suggest only adding a few more granules at a time since dashi powder is quite flavorful.
- Dijon mustard: 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard such a Maille, which is less spicy than brands such as Grey Poupon.
- Vinegar: 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Don’t use plain distilled vinegar since it lacks fruitiness and tanginess.
- Sugar: Plain old granulated white sugar! Start with 1 teaspoon and work your way up from there – half a teaspoon at a time – for more sweetness.
- Salt: 3/4 teaspoon of iodized salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
- Grapeseed oil: 1 cup of grapeseed oil or other neutral oil such as organic canola oil.
How To Make Japanese Mayo
- Mix the ingredients. Put all the ingredients, except for the grapeseed oil, in a food processor and mix well until the dashi, sugar, and salt have dissolved. If you don’t have a food processor use a hand mixer or a whisk.
- Add the oil. Slowly add the oil while continuously mixing until the oil has emulsified. The mayo should look light yellow and be thick by now. If it’s still liquidy, mix at a higher speed for a few seconds longer.
- Bottle it. Transfer the Japanese mayo to a glass jar or any other storage container, and refrigerate it.
What to Serve Japanese Mayo With
There are so many yummy ways to enjoy Kewpie mayo!
You can use it as a spread for sandwiches, as a dipping sauce for a vegetable plate, French fries or other fried foods such as tonkatsu, or as a salad dressing for coleslaw and crunchy greens like romaine lettuce.
Whatever you decide to use this condiment with I bet the flavors will marry beautifully!
Here are some of my favorite dishes that I like to use Kewpie mayo with:
- Oven baked chicken katsu
- Barbecue pulled jackfruit sandwiches
- Chicken banh mi
- Spicy tuna roll (try it with a little soy sauce – it’s really good!)
- Omurice
Did you like this kewpie mayonnaise recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
Print
Japanese Mayo (Kewpie Style Mayonnaise)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Japanese mayo is the perfect condiment to add flavor to sandwiches, pasta salads, and simple vegetable dishes
Ingredients
Made From Scratch
- 2 organic free range egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon dashi powder
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup grapeseed oil
Using Regular Mayonnaise
- 1 cup regular mayonnaise such as Hellman’s, or vegan mayonnaise
- 1/8 teaspoon dashi powder, or skip this if you are making vegan Japan mayo
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
Made From Scratch
- Put the egg yolk, mustard, dashi powder, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a food processor, and blend until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a hand blender or whisk.
- With the food processor running, slowly add the oil and continue blending until the mixture is thick like mayonnaise.
- Add an additional teaspoon of sugar if you prefer the mayo to be sweeter. Blend again.
- Transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Using Regular Mayonnaise
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, until the dashi and sugar have dissolved. If the texture of the mayo is a little too thin, whisk it for a minute or so using a food processor, hand mixer, or hand whisk.
- Transfer the Japanese mayo to a glass jar or any other storage container, and refrigerate it.
Notes
Japanese mayo will keep in the fridge, stored in an airtight jar or container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 258
- Sugar: 0.6g
- Sodium: 134.6mg
- Fat: 28.4g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 19.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 0.7g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0.7g
- Cholesterol: 46.1mg
I’m going to give it a try. Sounds good. I might use a tiny bit of fish sauce instead of dashi so I don’t have to run out and buy new things. I’m also using real butter instead of seed oils which I’m giving up due to their disease causing oxidative properties.
This is the only Kewpie mayo recipe I use! I put it on breaded pork cutlet sandwiches. My husband and kids love it to the point of finding anything available that they can dip in it once the pork is gone. 😀
Thank you so much Ellie! 🙂
Can a substitute be used for egg since a family member has a serious allergic reaction to eggs? vinnies36@gmail.com
Hi Vinnie! I would recommend making the quick version using vegan mayo such as Vegenaise. I’ve made it several times and it’s just as delicious! 🙂
Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as thick as I would have liked it to. Any tips?
Most likely you’ve added the Oil too fast :*( It’s an Emulsion, it has to happen a little at a time, unless you do the Stick Blender trick, and just add it all to a big glass that fits the Stick Blender, put it all the way to the bottom, start it, and slowly pull it up and down as it thickens 🙂
Not sure if I added a bit too much mustard you could definitely tell there was mustard in it, i added a bit of honey and it made it taste so much better and got rid of the mustard taste in the final product. Love it
Depends a lot on the Mustard used of course 🙂
Inexpensive, quick and easy, and I didn’t even have to go hunt for it in stores! appreciate both ‘add on to regular mayo’ and kewpie mayo from scratch recipes. Thank you!!!!
Fabulous! I actually used a creamy local low fat quark as a base instead of the mayo and it tasted great. Ok, using quark meant it did not quite taste like the original but I loved it and felt healthy 🙂 Thanks for all the detailed information
Kewpie sold in Hawaii is from Japan. It’s available at Walmart as well as Don Quijote and Marukai (Japanese stores that have outlets here).
The Kewpie mayo at my local international market has the msg in it! I was also able to get msg. How much would you suggest using for the from scratch recipe?
Hi Hailey, I usually sprinkle a little in the end, do a taste test and adjust from there. Just out of curiosity – where are you located? I’m asking because I haven’t been as lucky as you finding the version with msg!
If you’re using ready made mayonnaise. Do you still add the egg, vinegar, salt, sugar and oil?
Hi Alina, you don’t need the egg or the oil. The full recipe and ingredients are listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I was in a pinch for kewpie today and started researching how to make it. However, I didn’t end up making it because I’m curious as to the egg yolk.
Will this recipe work if the egg is cooked first like hard boiled?
I use kewpie to add to food for my very picky little eaters (5 years old). I’m always concern for risk of getting food poisoning since it’s actually raw egg yolk.
On a separate note, the commercially bought kewpie caused hives for my egg white allergic toddler (2 years old), so I want to try making it myself to endure it’s egg yolks only.
Looking forward to your help!
Thanks!
Janet
Hi Janet! If that’s the case I would recommend making the quick version starting with vegan mayo and seasoning the vegan mayo 🙂
Tastes pretty good! I made the quick version with Mayo.
However it was still too tangy for me, so adding a squirt (maybe 1 – 1.5 Tbsp) of honey did the trick
Thanks, Caroline, for posting this! Came out amazing, I love it much better than commercial jarred mayo.. I used this today to whip up your Japanese egg sandwiches for lunch. Delicious.
That’s wonderful Steve! Thank you for your comment, I’m so happy you liked it and used it for the tamago sando as well! 🙂
I actually failed to read some instructions and ended up with a runny texture because I combined it all at one. I set aside the failed “mayo mixture” and whipped up a new egg until mayo like texture and then slowly incorporated the failed mixture I had at first and viola! Never been so happy in my life. Thanks to this recipe!
That’s great Anne, I’m so happy you were able to fix it! 🙂
Hi Caroline,
Thank you for sharing these flavorful recipes. I have a question about the Kewpie mayo, can I use the Kombu Dashi powder on this recipe ?
Hi J! Yes you can. It won’t taste exactly the same but I love the taste of kombu dashi so I think it will work well with it 🙂
dashi powder is quite hard to get hold of here, could msg be a possible substitute? for the umami kick at least?
Hi there!
You can order dashi on Amazon, thankfully it’s one of the places that never seem to run out of it. You could skip it altogether but the taste will be a little different, still good though! I would also recommend buying Ajinomoto on Amazon at the same time since adding that to the mayo makes it taste even better 🙂
Many thanks for this Caroline! I posted in your tonkatsu sauce recipe how I was going to give this a try when my bottle of Kewpie ran out. Well it did and I did and I am thrilled with the result. I used Hellman’s mayo as the base and it turned out beautifully. The beauty of this is that you can adjust the individual ingredients to tailor the mayo to your individual taste – I added a smidge more dashi powder (I’m a sucker for it) and the result was beautiful. I can’t see myself buying Kewpie again, especially when I can adjust the flavour profile to how I want.
Genius recipe!
That’s so wonderful Tim, thank you so much for sharing this with me, you just made my day! 🙂 ❤️
What is dashi powder?
Hi Janel! Dashi powder is bonito fish powder to make a stock. You only need a few granules, it’s pretty powerful and super delicious!
Thank you for the speedy response, Caroline.