Hawaiian Smoked Tuna Mac-Attack

Look the f out, this is a tuna mac that might ruin you for your mama's tuna mac salad. Fair warning. :)

This recipe is really an ode to Hawaii in a loving sorta way. Most folks that have been here know that Hawaiians are simply mad about their tuna mac salad. It is served with everything from poke to loco moco to easily being a lunch or dinner staple all on its own. But while it is a beloved staple here in the islands, it can also be your run of the mill tuna mac. I just mean that it isn't fancy, just down home macaroni pasta and canned tuna with mayo and some veggies, maybe. Just meh?

Not at my house.

We get so much fresh tuna that tuna itself is a staple. And it winds up on the smoker just as often as it winds up in our bellies as poke. 

My family is just cray cray crazy for sushi and sashimi in any form. Florida roots, one might say. But since we do consume a fair amount of tuna fish, fresh out of the water, we don't treat it like it's mundane. In fact, Tsu throws a lot of tuna on the smoker when he is doing his thang. His smoker is quite a large one we got when we first moved to Hawaii and being that we can smoke quite a bit at one time, he makes the most of it and will smoke tuna, ono, salmon, chicken, brisket, you freaking name it. Really, whatever he's got a mind to smoke, everything goes in the smoker.

His mama and I love us some tuna fish salad. We can eat this every day if it is available. However, since Tsu started making Smoked Tuna Mac, we've become so enamored that this is our preferred way to eat it, hands down.

Our tuna mac is also made with homemade noodles. I make homemade spaetzle practically every other week as it is one of my family's favorite go-to noodles all by itself. That's why I make it by the ton. lol! I will make double batches just so we can have smoked tuna mac any chance we have to get smoked tuna. Usually, the sight of nearly 4 lbs of noodles is enough to get Tsu in the mood to get the smoker going. However if he smokes enough, we usually have an abundance of smoke fish in the freezers to serve the purpose any night we want.

If you have never made spaetzle, you are missing out on a serious homemade pasta secret straight outta Germany and Austria. Like the fastest weeknight meal I make is spaetzle all by itself. But if anyone is craving it, spaetzle and cheese might just ruin you for your mama's mac n cheese too. 

Here's the nitty gritty of our Smoked Tuna Mac:

• 1 lb of smoked tuna (no fresh tuna? smoke it in the can on your smoker! you heard me...)
• 1 lb of cooked macaroni or spaetzle (see my recipe for spaetzle if you need it)
• finely diced jalapenos
• capers
• finely diced red onion
• cumin seeds or ground, whichever you prefer
• salt, pepper to taste (go easy until you get the capers in as they do add a good amount of salt)
• finely diced dill pickles
• homemade mayo or aioli or whatever you prefer in that category
• fresh minced dill or cilantro

1. Get yourself some noodles. I don't care what they are or how you come about them but this is a key ingredient so use your bulk noodles or make your own spaetzle in the same amount of time as you would make a box of mac.
2. Smoked tuna, as little or as much as you have on hand.
3. Everything in the pool, so to speak. Mix all gently until well combined.
4. Serve on a bed of lettuce or just in a gigantic bowl you can drown in cuz trust me, it's that good.

Laab Gai for your favorite Guy or Gal

This recipe I've probably talked about many times but for those of you who may be unfamiliar it is a Thai spicy minced chicken salad that is usually served warm or cold with lettuce or cabbage. It's a go-to any time our family is testing the Thai waters at a new restaurant, along with the red curry, of course. And perhaps a papaya salad. If the restaurant makes tod mun (fish cakes) then we at least have a clue that it is authentic, at the very least.

One of the very first meals I ever made for Tsu when we first started dating was this. I made laab, papaya salad and red curry chicken, along with spicy nam prik just to show off a little. I mean, why not? If you can do it, flaunt it. He never misses an opportunity to blow my mind with his cooking and I'm so glad I opted to do the same the first time I ever cooked for him. 

Pretty sure it sealed the deal. lol! He was so impressed that I think it sparked an instant rekindling of his own food passions at a time when we were both feeling pretty low from our respective divorces. 

If you don't think food can bring some magic... you best think again. It became our love language before we knew like we knew we were a match made in Heaven. 

So when it came time for his birthday extravaganza this year, this was the request he made. He wanted exactly the same thing and I was tickled to oblige.

If you are in a pinch for time, any weeknight, this could be an easy, quick meal to prepare or even prepare a day ahead if you know your week is a bit tight. He asked me for a double batch and I ended up make nearly 3 lbs of laab. Hilarious, really, but it is an excellent salad served either warm or cold and we quite like it served chilled. Leftovers have time to meld and the flavors just become really wonderful.

Let's get to the magic, shall we? 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of minced meat of your choice (we like pork or chicken but beef is great, too)
• Juice of fresh lime
• Fish sauce
• 1/3 c of minced fresh mint leaves
• 1/3 c of minced fresh cilantro
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
• Dried chili flakes, to taste
• Toasted rice powder (It's just like it sounds, toasted Jasmine rice in a pan until just barely starting to color, put in a mini food processor and ground very finely. It's traditional and important and easy to make yourself if you can't find it or order it online.)
• Finely minced lemongrass (this is optional but it does add something special just make sure its the base of the stalk and as fine as you can slice or dice it)
• Cabbage wedges or lettuce of your choice

Magic sauce:

I call it magic because it is balanced and uses equal parts of these:

• Fish sauce
• Water
• Fresh lime juice

1. Add your minced meat to a cold pan and put the heat on medium low. You can raise the heat a bit later if you want but you are not browning the meat, you are simmering it gently in its own liquid along with the magic sauce below that creates its base flavor profile, which is salty, citrusy, but still very balanced and not overpowering. Unless you love it like that? And in that case, go nuts.
2. Add equal parts of magic sauce. This is your base liquid. Don't worry about too much liquid, initially. It's better to have too much than not enough as we don't want the meat to brown or to stick to the pan so use that as your gage. I start with 2 tbsp if each and continue to add more so the meat doesn't stick or overbrown. For 1 lb of ground meat, you may use 4 tbsp of each. I had 3 lbs of meat this time and just went with a 1/4 c of fish sauce, lime juice and water and that ended up being too much liquid once the meat cooked down. But not to worry if that's the case for you, too.
3. Gently simmer the meat until fully cooked. We want a little sauce, but not too much so you can play with this as you learn. Strain off excess liquid and reserve it until you get it how you like. I reserve it in case I strain off too much. You want it to be loose in the sauce but not swimming in it like mine was, but like I said above, better to have too much than too little. We don't want the meat to fry or stick to the pan.
4. Let your meat cool down quite a bit, strain off excess liquid if you haven't already, then really just toss in all the rest of your fresh ingredients and mix in well. I leave the chili flakes for last as this is entirely subjective. My household consumes so much chili that we make our own chili flakes. That's a recipe for another time but you can use dried pepper flakes like you would for pasta or pizza. Korean chili powder is also an alternative as it's not too hot but gives a good flavor as well if you don't enjoy the spicy heat like we do.
5. Serve immediately or you can refrigerate and serve it chilled with your favorite greens. I serve this family style with wedges of cabbage or iceberg because we like to eat it like lettuce cups or wraps.

We usually also make sticky rice or jasmine rice because that is traditional. But if you aren't into rice, it doesn't need it.