On a Good Friday morning, I was brainstorming what breakfast to make at my sister's house. While picking out the ingredients at the nearby store, planning to make Chahan (fried rice with mixed meat and veggies), when I cam across Century Tuna flakes in oil. I though of mixing up a Tuna Chahan.
After chopping up some garlic, onions and tomatoes, I poured the oil from the tuna on the frying pan to use as a base for the saute. I was surprised to find that the solution is not all made of oil, which evaporated almost instantly as it hit the heated frying pan. I then added a bit of coconut oil and proceeded to saute the garlic and onion. I then added the tomatoes with the juices to expand the base. The smell that came off it is not your typical garlic-onion saute...it has a bit of a fishy odor to it. Lastly I added the rice from last night's meal and added some iodized salt. Be sure to mash the pre-cooked rice by hand before adding it to the mix. For fried rice, rock salt would have been better but they only had iodized salt so I needed to add more. Iodized salt can only add flavor to a small area unlike rock salt, which can spread around with a more recognizable taste even with a small amount.
Adding the tuna's oil added a greasy texture to the mix (a texture I dislike in some fried rice) so I had to cook a bit longer to get the desired taste and texture. It's done if you get rid of the greasy texture and each pinch of rice has the flavor derived from the garlic and onion saute. After cooking, I topped it off with some scrambled eggs and some whole tuna flakes.
The final taste doesn't deviate that much from your ordinary Chahan, but it does have a hint of tuna. Maybe I could have enhanced the 'seafood'-iness by adding some sweet peas, diced carrots and some small sauted shrimp.
Just a little something to include to your Lenten season repertoire.
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