Macaroni salad with ham and cheese

What do I mean by nuanced? Nuance means subtle difference in shade, meaning, expression… In food, nuance can refer to flavor and texture. In the case of this salad, it is both.

Let’s start with flavors. Salty ham and cheese. Sweet pineapple. Sweet-sour pickle relish.

Then, let’s go to textures. Lightly chewy noodles, crisp carrot and celery, creamy mayo.

If all the ingredients of your salad are well-distributed, every forkful (or spoonful) of salad will be salty, sweet, sour, chewy, crisp and creamy. As you chew, there is a smooth and seamless interplay of flavors and textures to deliver the best macaroni salad experience.

Are these ingredients always present in my macaroni salad? No. The vegetables may differ. Sometimes, I add cucumber and omit the celery. Sometimes, I add chopped hard-boiled eggs. Other times, I opt for whole hard-boiled quail eggs. There are even times when I toss in finely sliced lettuce.

So, no, the ingredients are not always strictly the same. But there are two things that I will never ever include in my macaroni salad.

Three of the worst macaroni salad I’ve ever eaten, from bad to worst

1. Macaroni salad with sweetened condensed milk
2. Macaroni salad with raisins
3. Macaroni salad with raisins and sweetened condensed milk

Now, note that I don’t dislike raisins. I always add them when cooking menudo.

Pork menudo

A stew of pork, liver, potatoes, raisins, carrots, bell peppers and peas, Filipino menudo is cooked in tomato sauce with lots of onion, garlic, oregano and bay leaves.

And we love sweetened condensed milk here at home, especially for making Vietnamese-style coffee or to cook into dulce de leche.

Making dulce de leche at home: facts and myths

Long before we came across the term dulce de leche, my husband and I had been boiling unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk to make thick caramel. We’d spoon the caramel straight from the can and just eat it like that. So indulgent. So delicious.

Right, I love them both — just not in macaroni salad.

Macaroni salad with ham and cheese

Connie Veneracion

To make the flavors blend better, let the salad sit in a covered container overnight in the fridge. During that time, the noodles will soak up the saltiness of the ham and cheese, and the sweetness of the pineapple and pickle relish.

To make sure that the flavor balance is correct, taste the salad before serving, add salt and pepper, if needed.

And because the noodles will soak up the mayo too, check if the salad looks and tastes dry. Toss in more mayo, a couple of tablespoons at a time, to achieve an overall creamy but not sopping texture.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine International

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  

2x3x4x6x

• ▢ 250 grams macaroni - cooked al dente, drained and cooled
• ▢ 2 to 3 cups cubed salty ham
• ▢ 1 cup cubed cheese
• ▢ ½ cup mayonnaise - I recommend Japanese mayo
• ▢ 1 to 1½ cups crushed pineapple - drained
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup sweet pickle relish
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup slightly boiled and chopped carrot
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup chopped celery
• ▢ 1 salt
• ▢ ¼ ground white pepper
• ▢ sugar - only if the pineapple is not sufficiently sweet

Instructions

 

• In a mixing bowl, toss everything together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Cover the bowl tightly, pop into the fridge and leave to rest for several hours, preferably overnight.
• Take the salad out of the fridge, and give it a taste.
• Add salt, pepper and sugar, as needed for a well-rounded flavor profile.
• If the salad appears dry, add more mayo and toss.
• Put the salad back in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend once more.
• Serve chilled.

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Keyword Pasta