Mia here, filling in for Melissa Clark, who’s on vacation. Why smush potatoes into mayo when you could shingle them with cheese or roast them until crispy? What changed my mind was fish, specifically the realization that smoked salmon, tinned mackerel and — favorite of favorites — salmon roe were perfect partners to lush potato salad. So, of course, I immediately saved Kenji López-Alt’s Japanese potato salad with mentaiko (above) to my recipe box. It’s potato salad, but with umami oomph.

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Persons: Mia, Melissa Clark, who’s, Kenji López, umami oomph Locations: mayo