Best conglomeration for tuna salad sandwich?

[NVNVGirl]

What kind of tuna do you use, what ingredients do you add? What type of bread does it go on and is it toasted or not? I'm just curious.

[wawairis]

usually solid white variety. Hard boiled eggs sieved, mayo, chopped onion, a little sweet relish, couple of shakes of hot sauce, salt and pepper.

Preferably a nice rye bread with seeds. No toast please.

Nice glass of lemonade and some potato chips.

[melkor]

One can of skipjack tuna in oil, one can of skipjack in water - drain both and toss in a bowl. Add a minced shallot, a minced garlic clove, a bit of mustard, a bit of mayo, some dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix and serve on slices of toasted sourdough.

[slbunge]

I often have a tuna salad sandwich when working at home. In the summer when the tomatoes are flourishing I add a couple of slices. I mostly spread it on toasted wheat sandwich bread.

The five main ingredients are as follows:

Tuna - Genova Tonno (chunk yellowfin in olive oil)

Mustard - Grey Poupon Dijon (although I have used others)

Mayonaise - Hellman's

Salt - er, Mortons?

Pepper - um, I have no idea where it's from

I make mine fairly dry with about as much mustard as mayo. Often times I add a shot of Tapatio or Sunny Caribee hot sauce and a generous teaspoon of prepared horseradish. Occassionally I have added chopped cornichon. One time I added marinated green peppercorns but didn't care for that as much as the horseradish.

[bloviatrix]

Best tuna salad sandwich I ever made, hands down, was tuna packed in olive oil, drained and the chunks broken down into smaller pieces, on a french dinner roll schmeared with homemade herb mayo.

Simply Heaven.

[Suzanne F]

Tuna: whichever can is on the top of the pile. Could be the cheapest, junkiest dark, or albacore, or some other variety. Actually, I prefer the junkiest.

Mayo: Hellman's usually.

Celery, finely chopped.

Lemon or Lime juice.

Sweet pickle relish.

That's the basic. Other add-ins may include (not all together at the same time):

Chopped home-pickled white onions

Finely grated carrot

Curry powder (and then sometimes also a bit of chopped mango chutney)

Heinz Chili Sauce

Finely diced water chestnuts

Whatever flavored mayo (bought) I'm trying to get rid of

(And when I was a kid, Milani's 1890 salad dressing: a sweet/sour gloppy "French" dressing)

Bread: just about anything, although preference is for toasted seeded rye, toasted whole wheat, hero roll, kaiser roll (if it's the old kind with a flaky crust and fluffy crumb), onion roll, or hot dog/hamburger bun.

I'm not always the fancy eater.

[Basilgirl]

Solid white

Olive oil

A little mustard

Capers

Lemon juice

Just enough Hellman's to hold it all together

S&P

Must be made into a tuna melt

[Toliver]

I'm with Suzanne F...whatever tuna's on sale (as long as it's a name brand, it's okay by me).

Diced dill pickle - See this thread

Diced celery

Diced green onion

Miracle Whip (though Mayo will do once in a while)

slice of tomato, if in season, if not then none.

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

On whole wheat bread, not toasted.

[mikeycook]

For tuna, I prefer Tonno in Olive Oil.

[Betts]

albacore tuna, 50% of the final volume

finely diced - red onion. celery, jicama, red and green pepper, carrot, sweet pickle relish

Hellman's mayo, dash of lemon juice and a soupcon of Western dressing and fresh ground black pepper

Yummy and high fiber!

[tryska]

i went upscale a few weeks ago -

albacore, water-packed

aioli

horseradish mustard

a smidge of sweet relish

celery

red bell

it was yummy. oh i had it one whole wheat bread.

[KateW]

Tuna in oil, drained and flaked up pretty well and mixed with Hellman's (I usually like quite a bit). Recently started adding capers....and then some kosher flake sea salt to boot. Hey, I make up for my distaste for sweets with a preference for salt. Sometimes this is as far as I get and I eat it out of the bowl maybe with some stoned wheat thins. Other times I like to take some good sourdough bread or something, add a slice or two of Muenster or Cheddar, a slice of tomato if they're good, and make a tuna melt. Damn, my mouth is watering thinking about it.

I used to make really ghetto tuna melts, thanks to my fiance. His miracle whip, his american cheese slices, his wonder bread, and the chunk lite tuna he picked up by accident one day (hey, he meant well) and I was all set to start posting at the white trash food thread. But I have rectified that long ago.

[wesza]

No Matter what you use to make your sandwich. The best canned Tuna, anywhere is "Tuna Guys", located in Gig Harbor in Washington State. The use only "Albacore", caught on their own boats. It's hand filetand hand packed with no additives, water or oils. The only way its done is a solid piece packed in the tin, with a small amount of salt, and it's own rich Omega Oil [each tin contains 2200mg of Omega 3 per serving]. The Tuna is the closest tasting to fresh Albacore available. It's delicious flaked or done anyway into a salad, or sandwich preperation. They also have a Smoked Albacore and several other products as well. Irwin

[BoboBrazil]

tuna in spring water

boiled eggs

sweet relish

mustard

miracle whip

onions

on white bread

[Toliver]

No Matter what you use to make your sandwich. The best canned Tuna, anywhere is "Tuna Guys"...

I googled it and saw the price per can.

That tuna better give me an orgasm for that price! Yikes!

[wesza]

There are several internet sites. One offers the product at a very high price. If you tell me where your located i'll try to find where it's available reasonably in your area. In "Seattle" the prices varies by as much as $2.00 per can from different markets. Irwin

[KatieLoeb]

Mine is mostly like everyone else's. I always use the tuna in spring water for sandwiches. I use the tuna packed in olive oil if I'm making a tuna and white beans salad I make from time to time.

Diced Celery and/or water chestnuts for some snap. A tiny bit of grated sweet onion or finely shredded scallion. Sea salt and fresh pepper.

Miracle Whip or Mayo depending on what's in the house.

Best improvement lately has been a shot of wasabi powder in the mayo before blending. Makes it taste less "canned" somehow...

[Rachel Perlow]

I posted Jason's grandfather's recipe for tuna on RecipeGullet. It's good, but too much onion for my taste.

I usually use Solid White in water, Hellman's mayo, finely diced celery, grated lemon zest and a squeeze of juice. Optional additions are oregano, pepper or lemon pepper, onion (preferably red onion). NO PICKLE RELISH. Blech. Almost any kind of bread is good, usually but not strictly untoasted. Lettuce and tomato slices please.

That being said... the best tuna sub I've ever had was the made by Dino, former owner of Dino's Bakery, formerly in Cliffside Park (I miss Dino, he sold the place a couple of years ago to his apprentice, that guy did not have Dino's magic touch, business run down and closed. Now, to add insult to injury, there's going to be a Domino's in that location. ). He used an imported Italian brand of tuna in olive oil and he mashed it up with diced tomato. Oh his freshly baked crusty bread. Mmmm.

Usually, tuna is a "when Jason's not home" treat. He can't even stand the smell of it.

[suzilightning]

sorry guys but growing up on the water i don' t eat tinned tuna UNLESS under extreme duress and for that i keep tiny cans of season in oil.

my tuna salad is grilled or poached fresh tuna, minced shallots, fresh chopped parsley, some tarragon and dill from the window boxes, some celery salt(can't eat real celery), and miracle whip(grew up with it cannot stand the taste of hellmann's) but just enough to bind with a squeeze of lemon juice. either mix with whole wheat elbows, more binder and onion for tuna noodle salad or spread on toasted wheat and ONLY if they are good, fresh tomato slices with some iceberg lettuce leaves. crunchy, sweet, tangy, fresh - ahhhhhhhh.

[Jinmyo]

I grill ahi tuna, let it cool.

Make some mayonnaise.

Mince some scallions, mostly the green part, some garlic, some ginger.

Crumble the tuna, add mayo, add above, season.

From there I might add:

Dijon and capers or

Lime zest and chile or

Coriander and siracha or

Hard-cooked egg and celery or

Lumpfish caviar and slivered nori or...

Often with arugula or watercress or daikon greens or...

One essential is excellent bread: Crisp crust, a crumn that enfolds and envelopes.

[Suzanne F]

May I ask all those who add egg: why? I don't "get" it. Either you make tuna salad or you make egg salad. Why a hybrid?

[wesza]

At our restaurant in Honolulu, we used to serve at Lunchtime as a entree, and for dinner as a appetizer. "Tuna Salad", prepared tableside with Fresh Raw Albacore or Tuna with the wait person quickly pan poacing in a little olive oil, and white wine the filet, cooked to the customers requested degree of doneness. While assembling the prepared codiments of Capers, Hard Boiled Egss, Chopped Spring onions, Chopped Maui Onions, Chopped Celery, Chopped Cabbage, Shredded Daikon, Parsley, Cilantro, Shredded Carrots, Chinese hot Mustard, Dijon Mustard, Finished to order Mayonnase, Lemon, lime, Rice Vinager, Balsamic Viniger and White Viniger.

It was very interesting the way regular customers, most who had never experienced anything but canned tuna for salads, [this included local residents] developed their own favorite recipes that we kept on cardboard cards available when ordered so the server appeared to remember exactly their preferances. Weserved this Stuffed into tomatos, on Sour Dough bread, Chalah, Hawaiian Sweet Bread or Seeded Rye Bread. It was a popular seller, that kept the pressure off the kitchen. We also made Crab Salad,and Shrimp Salad utilizing this service method. Irwin

[MGLloyd]

There are several internet sites. One offers the product at a very high price. If you tell me where your located i'll try to find where it's available reasonably in your area. In "Seattle" the prices varies by as much as $2.00 per can from different markets. Irwin

I am in south Snohomish County and work in downtown Seattle. This tuna sounds interesting. Do you know of any markets from Snohomish County to downtown Seattle that carry this?

Thanks for any help.

Edited October 4, 2003 by MGLloyd (log)

[wesza]

There are several internet sites. One offers the product at a very high price. If you tell me where your located i'll try to find where it's available reasonably in your area. In "Seattle" the prices varies by as much as $2.00 per can from different markets. Irwin

I am in south Snohomish County and work in downtown Seattle. This tuna sounds interesting. Do you know of any markets from Snohomish County to downtown Seattle that carry this?

Thanks for any help.

Michael: Tuna Guys Tuna are available at all "Tops Supermarkets", "PCC's" and some QFC"s but at a higher price for whatever reason. Irwin

[MGLloyd]

Peachy. There are a couple of Top Foods in Everett and Edmonds. There is also a QFC by me in Mill Creek, but I avoid shopping there whenever possible. I will stop by and check it out. Thanks a lot for your help.