Most certainly will. I also have to squeeze out the juice of the tuna, another important step. And dry the chopped celery too.
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In the Kewpie? Not according to Tokushimacook’s post above.
I could’ve sworn there was a similar thread in which the same question came up, and the same answer: it’s the mayo.
There’s a supermarket in Baltimore that makes killer deli sandwiches. It’s the mayo.
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I’ve been on a similar quest - but have come to slightly different conclusions…
for tuna salad. THE number 1 issue is the canned tuna.
remember that nerdy kid who loved the elementary school tuna noodle casserole? went back for seconds? well, I’mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm back!!
being unhappy with results of the then du’jour, some time ago I bought a can of near every tuna on the shelf, and took them home for al all-at-once, semi-formal taste test. fortunately, DW and I both agreed: Genova albacore in oil was our hands down recollection fav.
oh, yes - the cat was most exuberant with the test left-overs . . .
your tastes will vary, thems be ours, make yourself happy.
#2 on my findings is texture. having knife /fork sliced/diced chicken/tuna for the last decades . . . and comparing that to deli/store preps (that tasted better . . . ) I broke out the food processor - like not used in the last ten years . . .
a food processor - using 2-5 pulses - produces a chunky paste of chicken/tuna.
early attempts revealed harder additives that per recipes were added later, like celery . . . were still too chunky in the finished product.
long story short: I put the out-of-the-can-drained-tuna + fine diced celery + red onion + capers…
into the food processor and make a lumpy paste - 20 seconds of multiple pulsing . . . goes pretty dang quick.
add mayo, creamy horse radish (sssh! that’s a secret ingredient!!), parsley, fresh lemon juice, pulse to combine, refridge over night to meld flavors.
no one in the house has noticed the absence of a pickle product…perhaps the caper flavor carries the day?
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Yes! I learned that on another thread! I get my Kewpie at an Asian market and it has MSG.
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Good thread! I thought I could find what I wanted when needed, but apparently not, so I’m parking stuff here. Hope that’s okay.
We did have a tuna thread, and mayo came up there too. It still wasnt the deli tuna salad thread I remember.
That thread also had this link;
And we have many restaurants trying to replicate “homemade” tuna sandwiches, and advertising them as such.
Life is full of delicious ironies.
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Yup. I knife the veggies/capers to get the right size, then throw everything in a small (3 Qt.) bowl I have for the stand mixer with the paddle. This gives me way more control over the texture of the fish and the proper amount of mayo.
I think the old deli tuna thread was back on Chowhound. The person there, not satisfied with merely using heavy mayo, started to go off into the weeds about the need for adding soft white bread crumbs for texture. It was a whole thing.
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I’ve added bread crumbs myself. It’s a good way to ensure that the tuna salad won’t start leaking mayo, as happens sometimes.
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I’d think it would be good for absorbing liquid from diced celery too. It’s been my experience that the tuna salad is more likely to be a little weepy the next day. Since the advent of those single serving tuna packs, I haven’t made more than enough for 1 serving for a while though.
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I think you are on to something !!! In fact that elusive flavor I seek and that is in ALL great deli tuna salad as well as chicken salad and possibly potato salad may just in fact be the CAPERS ! I say this because the flavor I could not find is TANGY and that is just what capers do ! Holy smokes this could be it and even more important than the HD mayo ! Now it’s only a hypothesis on my part as of now until I make it myself, but the flavor is damn straight tangy for sure ! Wow thanks !
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capers are super ‘secret’ ingredient.
for me they have just the right ‘punch’ - not sweet, not overbearing vinegary , , , just right.
I get Cento brand - actually a number of things in the brand - all good stuff…
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Wow! Capers… who would’ve thought. LOL!
I never did. Sicilians never focus on tuna salad. Not one of the go to foods in my family. In fact the family loathes American food. Once I got scolded by my Godmother years ago for even mentioning that I just love macaroni & cheese.
Will buy them Thursday. Hopefully my stupidmarket has Cento. Thanks !!!
So guessing you never read my first post to your thread?
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When did we learn you are Sicilian?
I must have missed that.
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My friends like to put chopped capers and pickled cocktail onions (the white ones, not the yellow ones) in their tuna salad.
