Food - Drink
The Simple Sauce To Give Your Tuna Salad An Umami Boost
By TALIN VARTANIAN
Canned tuna is an excellent snack with a wide range of culinary possibilities, but creamy tuna salad is an absolute classic. Tuna salad is commonly prepared with mayonnaise, seasonings, and maybe a few minced veggies, and while this creates a perfectly acceptable salad, you should pump up the umami with this simple sauce.
Fish sauce is a salty condiment made of fish that is salted, aged, and pressed to extract liquid. This condiment is a can't-live-without-it staple in Thai, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese cuisine for its ability to elevate any dish with a savory, umami essence, so you can imagine why it works to improve tuna salad without adding any distracting flavors.
Not only does fish sauce’s flavor blend into the already-fishy tuna to make a more savory-tasting mixture, but its depth also balances out the bright flavors of fresh herbs and tart mayo. Just don't add too much of this extremely potent condiment; just half a teaspoon is enough to season four 5-ounce cans of tuna when used to make salad.