For most people, tuna salad is a depressing culinary memory. Canned tuna, white mayo, maybe a pickle if you’re lucky. This recipe is nothing like that.
Ingredients :
- Avocado — It’s the boss of this recipe, not the tuna. It must be really ripe — not greenish and hard as a rock, nor brown and stringy inside. The skin should be nearly black, the flesh should yield to slight thumb pressure without sinking in. If you buy in advance, take it firm and leave it at room temperature for two days. A bad avocado means a bad recipe.
- Canned tuna — Take it in water, not oil — the avocado already provides enough fat. Albacore white tuna has a firmer texture and milder flavor than skipjack, allowing other flavors to shine. Drain it really well: if you leave it wet, you dilute all the avocado cream and end up with a gray mush.
- Pre-cooked buckwheat (kasha) — This is the ingredient people skip. Wrong. Once soaked for 30 minutes in boiling water and drained, it has a slightly firm chew and a subtly toasted hazelnut aroma that completely changes the bowl’s texture. It’s easy to find in health food stores or the cereal aisle of supermarkets, often labeled kasha.
- Jalapeño — Optional, yes — but if you leave it out, something is missing. Its heat is frank and short, not aggressive. Remove the seeds if you want to control the heat. If you can’t find one, half a fresh green chili works perfectly.
