A tasty snack of tuna salad on soda crackers (or Saltines). It's a Hawaii classic! Add pickled onions and Tabasco to make it extra delicious ^_^
I'm always excited for the Wednesday edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, our local newspaper. Why? Because of the food/dining insert called Crave! It has a fun mix of local reviews, recipes, and stories plus restaurant ads which highlight good deals and special dishes for the week.
I've been reading the Wednesday food insert for decades and it's one of the main reasons I still subscribe to a print edition of the newspaper.
Alan Wong wrote a great article in last week's issue called, Hard tack, the sailors biscuit and Diamond Bakery. He describes a snack of "tuna salad on a soda cracker with pickled onions and Tabasco." He called it a "humble yet awesome pupu." That is the most perfect way to describe this treat.
FYI: pupu is what we call snacks or appetizers in Hawaii.
Tuna salad is a popular in Hawaii. Remember Tuna Rice? And Tuna Tofu Patties? We also love tuna rolls (Kozo Sushi is my go-to place for this) and canned tuna in general.
Tuna salad on a soda cracker is a classic snack...I have many memories of this for after school treats! I love how the version Alan Wong's friend created also includes pickled onions and Tabasco. It's tuna on crackers, but slightly nicer.
As soon as I read the article, I couldn't stop thinking about the combination. I was craving it bad. Luckily we had all the ingredients at home. It's truly a snack of pantry staples.
I made quick pickled onions using a red onion. While waiting for the onions to pickle, I made the tuna salad by mixing canned tuna with mayonnaise. Then I opened up a bag of soda crackers (we use Diamond Bakery soda crackers in Hawaii though you can use Saltines or anything similar). Top with a spoonful of tuna salad and the pickled onions. Add a dash of Tabasco. Snack away!
Ingredients
All you need are pantry ingredients:
For the quick pickled onions:
- Red onion
- White vinegar
- Water
- Sugar
- Salt
For the tuna salad:
- Canned tuna (in water or oil) - Oil is alway more flavorful but just use what you have available. It will be tasty either way.
- Mayonnaise
To assemble:
- Soda crackers (or Saltines or similar crackers) - In Hawaii you can get a big box of soda crackers from Costco Hawaii. If you only need a small box, our local drugstore Longs Drugs (secretly CVS) often has them on sale. You can also buy packages of soda crackers at pretty much every supermarket in Hawaii.
- Tabasco
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's get cooking!
First, make the pickled onions.
Cut the onion into thin slices (I like to use a mandoline slicer for this - faster than a knife and you get nicer, more even slices). Place the onions in a large, heatproof bowl.
In a small pot, add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir until the sugar and salt is dissolved.
Let cool for a few minutes, then pour the mixture (it should still be hot) over the sliced onions. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. The pickled onions are ready!
Make the tuna salad.
Drain the oil or water from the canned tuna. Place in a bowl and mix with the mayonnaise. Set aside.
Assemble the Tuna Crackers.
Top each soda cracker with spoonful of the tuna salad. Add some of the pickled onions on top. Add a dash of Tabasco. Eat and enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
There are so many different ways you can make this recipe. This recipe is a classic/standard one, but feel free to change it up as much as you like. Here are a few ideas.
- Salt and pepper - I wanted to keep this recipe super simple so we didn't even add salt and pepper to the tuna salad. But you can definitely do that to make it more flavorful.
- Shredded carrots and/or celery - Anything you'd add to a regular tuna salad, you can also do for the tuna salad in this recipe. Shredded carrots and/or celery are both popular options.
- Ikura - When I'm in a fancy mood, I add ikura (cured salmon roe) on top of (or in place of) the pickled onions. You can buy ikura from most Japanese markets or even make ikura at home.
Enjoy!
Top Tip
One important thing to keep in mind is that this recipe is super flexible! It's barely a recipe. It's more like a guideline for how to assemble a tasty snack.
It can easily be doubled or tripled. You can buy the pickled onions if that's easier. You can make the tuna salad as mayo-y as you'd like ^_^
FAQ
For this tuna salad, we usually use Best Foods (which goes by Hellmann's on the east coast). If you have Kewpie Mayonnaise, that's also a super good option.
We prefer Kewpie when the dish is more Asian-y, but for a snack like tuna crackers, Best Foods and Kewpie are both great.
Any time! Growing up we mostly ate this as an after school snack (minus the pickled onions and Tabasco). Tuna salad was easy to assemble as a kid and there were always soda crackers in the pantry.
If you have a group of people over, just lay out the components (a bowl of pickled onions, a bowl of tuna salad, a bunch of soda crackers on a plate) and everyone can assemble their own Tuna Crackers. It's fun, interactive, and tasty.
Pickled onions can be made in advance - they'll keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Tuna salad can be made up to a day in advance.
Once you assemble the Tuna Crackers, make sure to eat it right away ^_^
Tuna Crackers
Ingredients
Pickled Onions
- 1 whole red onion
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Tuna Salad
- 1 can canned tuna in water or oil
- 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Instructions
- Make the pickled onions:Cut the onion into thin slices (I like to use a mandoline for this) and place into a large, heatproof bowl.In a small pot, add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar and salt is completely dissolved. Let cool for a few minutes, then pour the mixture (it should still be hot) over the sliced onions. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then the pickled onions are ready.
- Make the tuna salad:Drain the oil or water from the canned tuna. Place in a bowl and mix with the mayonnaise. Set aside.
- Assemble:Top each soda cracker with a spoonful of the tuna salad and some of the pickled onions. Add a dash of Tabasco. Eat and enjoy!
Related
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Mahalo for Reading!