When you think of tuna, you probably think of the little cans of Starkist or Bumble Bee tuna that your mother used to crack open, mix into a mayonnaise-based salad, and serve on toast. This is generally what comes to mind when you think of tuna. According to Simply Recipes, the components of a standard tuna salad are as follows: mayonnaise, canned tuna of your choosing, a small amount of celery, some lemon juice, and a small amount of onion that has been chopped. The popularity of tuna salad contributes to the staggering quantity of canned tuna that is consumed annually in the United States. According to the National Fisheries Institute, the average yearly consumption of canned and pouched tuna by Americans is one billion pounds, and of those people, 52 per cent like to eat it on sandwiches. This information may come as a surprise to you.
However, if you discover that the typical components in tuna salad do not deliver the degree of tastiness that your palate craves, we have a hidden ingredient that will change all of that. In point of fact, this component of your tuna salad will not only take it in a new direction from a culinary standpoint, but it will also remain the distinguishing factor whenever you prepare this meal. The fact that you probably don’t need to go out to the shop to purchase this flavour-enhancing condiment is one of our favourite things about it. There is a good possibility that you already have a bottle stashed away in the back of your refrigerator, either behind the Worcestershire sauce or the ketchup.
You’ve Been Looking for a Game-Changing Ingredient, and You’ve Found It in Soy Sauce for Your Tuna Salad.
If you want to give your tuna salad a jolt of flavour, the Salted Spoonful recommends that you play with the idea of adding some soy sauce to the mix of ingredients that you use. According to the Cooking Channel, soy sauce has been around since the year 300 A.D. and is an essential ingredient when eating sushi, ramen, lo mein, or any of the other delicious Asian cuisines that we are familiar with. Why? Because soy sauce imparts a savoury, meaty flavour to any cuisine you use it in, “umami.” The addition of soy sauce will make your tuna salad taste better than it ever has before due to the deep savoury depth of flavour it brings, along with a subtle sweetness that complements it well.
On the other hand, Salted Spoonful argues that soy sauce is just one component of the equation to determine the secret. The second step is to marinate the tuna in the sauce for a period of time ranging from three to twelve hours, depending on how much flavour you want. During the marinating process, the fermented tastes of the brown juice are given the opportunity to work their enchantment. You may be questioning whether or not it truly is that delicious.
Well, it must be since the sandwich business Jimmy John’s also utilizes soy sauce to produce its tuna salad sandwiches, and there are lots of copycat recipes out there that come very close to replicating the exquisite flavour of Jimmy John’s version of this sandwich.