The Japanese make seriously good salads, we’ve bought them from delis and department stores just before getting on Shinkansen across the country, and eaten them with chopsticks as we whizz through the beautiful countryside. The potato salad in this dish is especially lovely, rich and flavoursome, satisfying and exotic, going very well with the salmon, the citrusy crème fraiche dressing, and the yolk oozing out of the boiled egg. This recipe makes a generous portion of potato salad, so there may be some left over for tomorrow's lunch. If you can get hold of Fir Apple potatoes (late summer in the UK), they work particularly well. We normally do this recipe in two stages. Make the potato salad when we get in from work and allow it to cool for an hour or so, then compile everything else 15 minutes off serving.

400g potatoes in 2cm cubes

The potato salad dressing:-

3 spring onion whites, finely chopped

1 tbspn finely chopped chives

1 tbspn white miso

2 tbspn crème fraiche

1 tspn yuzu

1 tbspn water

3 large pinches smoked sea salt

pinch of ground white pepper

The salad dressing:-

10g dill leaves, finely chopped (hang on to a few fronds for serving)

1 tbsp crème fraiche

1 tbsp milk

3 x drained gherkins, finely chopped

To serve

230g smoked salmon

4 eggs

130g watercress or baby spinach leaves

extra dill

• Put the potatoes on to steam or boil. Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the potato salad dressing in a large bowl. Once the potatoes are cooked, add them, still warm and stir gently. Stir carefully, doing your best to incorporate the dressing throughout without breaking up the tats too much. Set aside
• Combine the ingredients for the salad dressing in a small bowl. Set aside
• When ready to eat, boil a kettle and in a small pan boil the eggs for 6 minutes. Remove immediately and put into a bowl of cold water.
• To serve, divide the watercress, salmon and potatoes between 4 plates and dribble the second dressing around each plate. Peel each egg carefully, place one in the centre of each plate, and cut in half with a knife, pop a frond or two of dill on top and serve