Last week I made a tuna sandwich with Starkist chunk light tuna. This morning I made a sandwich with Starkist chunk white tuna. Now, I usually eat chunk white – Starkist, Bumble Bee, Trader Joe’s – but I found the chunk light for $0.49/can so I bought some. It was very good. Having just finished a chunk white tuna sandwich, I think that I like the chunk light better. (Sometimes I’ll have solid white tuna, as I don’t go out of my way to get one or the other chunk or solid.)
I’m under the impression that people buy “white” tuna because they favour “white meat”. That is, white turkey or chicken meat seems to be favoured over dark meat. Now, I like my white turkey meat; but I also like dark meat. And I like duck, which is dark. I like white fowl for its light flavour, and I like dark fowl for its stronger flavour. Also, white meat can often be dry. I never thought about “light” and “dark” fish meat.
So now I’ve had both “light” and “white” canned tuna within a week. I think I like the “light” better because it has a slightly stronger flavour, and it seems to be more moist.
How about you lot? What kind (not brand) of canned tuna do you like? “Light”, or “white”?
Currently I have Chunk white albacore, in water, in the little bag thing so I don’t have to bother to drain it.
Actually, I only have that because it was on sale for the same price as the other. I don’t know what kind I buy normally, because it’s not something I have around that often. I definitely like the bag things though, because I hate draining tuna.
Chunk light for me. Mostly because that’s what tends to be on sale. I don’t think I’ve actually ever bought any other kind. I used to eat it straight out of the can. Maybe I’ll buy a can of chunk white and compare it to the chunk lite.
I used to buy chunk light, because it’s easier to mash up into tuna salad and casseroles and other things where you want smoothness and canned tuna flavor rather than huge fish nubbins.
Then my mother-in-law pointed out that chunk light possesses the texture and aroma of cat food.
So now I buy solid white, meaning I pay more and work harder.
Some cans of tuna contain a watery, mushy substance. I called and complained once. So I prefer the white albacore because it seems to consistently have solid chunks. Yes, it costs more.
Whatever is on sale, my friend. Whatever is on sale. Of course, that usually means chunk light, but that’s okay. I’m one of those people who think “the fishier the taste, the better.”
I like the solid white albacore in water. It is harder to mash down for sandwiches, but I add enough Miracle Whip to make it mushier. I used to like the light chunk, but it has a tronger “fishy” flavor, and it talks back to me (makes me burp) more.
Tuna for health and Miracle Whip to keep my unhealthy Michelin Man figure.
Why won’t I buy Trader Joe’s firm, alabaster albacore, fished from steroid-laced waters? Is it because I’m a cheapskate? Perhaps.
But perhaps I enjoy the thrill of a over-compressed lid buckling under the pressure of my thumb while the can is being drained, and exploding all over my kitchen. By God, fish muscle is not a liquid substance, and although the cannery has tried to fool me into buying a can of tuna soup (do not add water), I am determined to seperate every possible drop of potliquor from fish fiber.
I’ve found an advanced two-thumb method to be no hedge against explosion, probably because the tuna and water are not evenly placed inside the can. Bumblebee makes the best explosions, followed by Chicken of the Sea.
A truly good tuna exposion leaves its mark by vaulting the sink’s splash guard and actually spattering the kitchen curtains, even though the can was pointed downward into the drain. Cleanup is no anticlimax - my cat is an acomplished curtain-sucker.
I buy chunk white, but only because it costs 98 cents at our local discount store. Available 24/7.
When I grew up in the 1950’s, mom made tuna sandwiches out of chunk light. It was what 90% of the US bought, just 'cause they couldn’t afford the higher priced stuff.
I contend that the chunk light that was available back in the 1950’s-60’s aint the mushy crap that you get today in a can of chunk light. It’s fricking mushy. It is slime. It’s truly different.
And, to us oldsters, it was always in oil. Spring water hadn’t been invented yet. Sheesh!
