TL;DR
- Make some Homemade Mayonnaise;
- Dice the left-over boiled egg white from the mayo;
- Drain one can of tuna;
- Dice one roma tomato (or halve several cherry tomatoes);
- Add half can of corn;
- Mix everything in a bowl;
- Add salt if necessary;
- Eat.
This is a simple one. My mother picked up this recipe from my childhood best friend’s family. He’d share half of his tuna sandwich with me at school and it was the highlight of my day :). It’s also one of the recipes I made for my wife when I was trying to impress her with my cooking skills. Yeah, it may be common here in North America, but it’s definitely not common in Brazil.
The Mayo
Having good mayonnaise is just as important as having good tuna. If you haven’t learned how to make your own yet, I strongly recommend you try it out first. Using industrialized mayo doesn’t have the same effect on the final product.
After making the mayo, you’ll end up with a left-over boiled egg white. You’ll be using that in the tuna salad.
The mayo recipe has its own share of salt, so we won’t be adding any extra here.
The Tuna
Good food is easier to achieve when you have good ingredients. Canned food, unfortunately, is not high up on my list of good stuff.
When choosing canned tuna, try to find one that is conserved in water as we’ll be adding mayonnaise which is already quite oily. Solid tuna is better than the grated variety for this dish. If you can get your hands on organic, ethically sourced tuna, all the better.
The Corn
When I’m in a hurry, I normally use canned corn. When I have the time, however, I go through the trouble of boiling the whole ear of corn and cutting the kernels once they’re cooked. Trust me, it takes more effort but tastes much better!
The Tomato
Tomato, tomahto – it’s all the same, right? Wrong. There are several types of tomato out there. Some have more juice, others have more flesh. If you use a tomato that has too much juice in this dish, it’ll get too watery.
I like using Roma tomatoes or those tiny ones, either cherry or grape tomatoes.
Preparation
Once you’ve made the mayo, the rest is really easy.
Grab a large bowl. Open and drain the can of tuna without slicing your fingers open. Pro tip: if the can you bought doesn’t have that tab to pull and requires a can opener instead, use a fork or spoon to lift the lid after using the can opener. Many seasoned cooks (ahem, mom and wife, yes I’m talking about the two of you) have fallen victim to those sharp lids on more than one occasion.
Place the contents of the can in the bowl. Add the corn. Cut up the boiled egg white into medium sized pieces and add it to the mix. If you really like boiled egg whites, feel free to boil another egg to use that white as well.
If you’re going to use Roma tomatoes, dice it up. If you’re using cherry or grape tomatoes, then cut them in half or quarters.
Add mayo, mix it well, and enjoy!