Canned Fish

[ElegantAura]

Canned fish is a great pantry staple because it's convenient, nutritious, and versatile.

There are many varieties to choose from, each offering unique flavours and uses, including sardines, tuna, mackerel, anchovies, salmon, herring, octopus, smoked trout, squid, clams, eel, cod, and many more.

What is your favourite to eat?
How do you pair your Canned fish?
Do you have any favourite accompaniments or sides?
For example, do you add it to a specific type of bread, mix it into a particular salad, or serve it with certain vegetables?

 

[Elvira]

I had tuna once upon a time when I was a little kid.

 

[Black Angel]

I love canned salmon, sardines and tuna fish and those are the only canned fish I have had..

I grew up eating sardines on saltine crackers as a kid because of my GGM and she always put a metric fuckload of garlic in that and tuna fish when I was a kid.

She would also make salmon cakes and salmon and rice as well and I loved that too..

The tuna she and my Mom brought was always either Bumble Bee Chunk Light or Chunk White (I still struggle to find the difference between the two as it was always good and not fishy like other generic brands were.. though Starkist always had more water than fish in it regardless of type..) and Bumble Bee was the brand she always bought for salmon as well. And she always removed the silverskin and bones before she cooked with it.

It wasn't until I started living with my husband did I ever eat the third type of tuna..

Solid White Albacore.

This was always the kind of tuna I was curious about whenever I went shopping with my Mom or GGM as a kid and was always told to "put it back" and told to get either Chunk Light or White as it was usually on sale. I never questioned it because it was what they asked for and they always wanted it in water not oil..

So this habit stuck until I was shopping with my husband (then boyfriend) and when I picked up like 10 cans of tuna (10 for $10 sale) he looked at me like I was from another planet.. and asked me why I picked up Chunk Light when the Solid White Albacore was right there. (Also, on sale 10 for $10, which NEVER happened again.. but always 5 for $10 after that..)

And when I asked him what the problem was since it was on sale, he told me to just trust him and to get that and he'll explain later.

When we got home and started unpacking the groceries, and then went to sleep and when we woke up, he started making lunch (we always went to the 24/7 grocery stores for the same reason we went to Walmart back when it was 24/7 as well) and when I reminded him that he never explained what the big deal was over the tuna.. he handed me a sandwich.

His explanation came in the form of a sandwich on a toasted kaiser roll with tuna salad with a metric fuckload of garlic and freshly ground black pepper.. and when I took a bite, my life was changed.

I know its weird to say that about a sandwich but it was the truth and I legit forgot I was eating tuna fish.. I though it was chicken. There was no fishiness to it at all and he simply said THAT was the difference. He said that he too had grown up eating generic tuna, but it was never Chunk Light or Chunk White, but rather "tuna flake" as in a can full of the bits of tuna from the bottom of the can that you need a fork to get and water. Even more so than Starkist.

He later told me that he got put on to SWA tuna when he was on his way home from work one late night and while waiting for the train he saw a bag full of SWA tuna that someone had left behind and he took it home and that was when his mind was blown. And from that point onward, SWA was all he bought. And I explained what I grew up with and he likes that too especially since they still go 10 for $10 on sales.

And that was what we always bought for ourselves when we went shopping and we never thought it was that big of a deal until we went to my parents house and my Mom asked me to go to the store to get some tuna that she forgot, and I went and brought back SWA. She didn't even realize what she had until she made lunch for all of us and everyone but us knew the difference immediately. They ALL thought it was chicken like I did. And when my Mom told me that she told me to get tuna instead of chicken, but said it was still good, I told her I did buy tuna, but that it was SWA since Chunk White in water was sold out but all they had was the oil version and when she LOUDLY informed me that it was $2 a can, I was instantly Thanos-snapped back to my humble roots as a kid because I realized in that moment that my husband had successfully bougiefied me.. LOL

But I told her that she only paid the sale price for the SWA because I was able to convince the manager to let me get that instead since it was "practically the same."

It WAS their fault for using the same colors for 2 different types of tuna.

Oh and I did eventually learn the difference between CL, CW and SWA tuna..

It gets less fishier the further right you go, and "tuna flake" is literally THEE worse of them all.. but where Bumble Bee is concerned, the difference is negligible between CL and CW but night and day between that and SWA..

 

[Webster]

What is your favourite to eat?
How do you pair your Canned fish?
Do you have any favourite accompaniments or sides?
For example, do you add it to a specific type of bread, mix it into a particular salad, or serve it with certain vegetables?

1} Canned solid tuna w/vegetable oil
2} Usually w/either crackers or bread
3} Relish, Miracle Whip or Sandwich spread
4} Sometimes I'll add it to salads or serve it w/rice and steamed veggies

 

[ElegantAura]

To answer the question also

I do eat tuna, though not as much as I used to. I love the one with a tomato flavour, but my favorite has always been sardines.

They're one of the healthier options and typically have lower mercury levels compared to other canned fish.
I enjoy sardines not just for their health benefits but also because I like them, so it's a plus.


How I prepare them usually depends on my mood. Sometimes, I grab some nice bread to have with them and make a simple salad to go with it, which might just be a few slices of cucumber or tomato. Sometimes, I just cut some veggies and add them next to the sardines without making it into a full salad—just tomatoes, olives, pickles, or any small stuff I have on hand.
If I'm hungrier, I cook some rice and put the sardines on top.

I always pick the ones in extra virgin olive oil. Yes, they have more calories that way, but they're healthier and provide more nutrients when combined with the oil.
I don't have to worry about my weight, so it's okay for me, but it depends on the individual and their needs.


I also eat other canned fish like herring in various flavours or anything else I can find.
Some are not cheap. I like octopus in wine, but it's hard to find and costly.

I can eat all types of canned fish, but sardines will always be my favourite for their flavour, great nutrition, and affordability.
They truly stand out among the rest.

 

[Webster]

How I prepare them usually depends on my mood. Sometimes, I grab some nice bread to have with them and make a simple salad to go with it, which might just be a few slices of cucumber or tomato. Sometimes, I just cut some veggies and add them next to the sardines without making it into a full salad—just tomatoes, olives, pickles, or any small stuff I have on hand.
If I'm hungrier, I cook some rice and put the sardines on top.

I always pick the ones in extra virgin olive oil. Yes, they have more calories that way, but they're healthier and provide more nutrients when combined with the oil.

Great minds think alike!

 

[ElegantAura]

You can never go wrong with a plate like this. The nutrients are great, and it's a cheap meal with no cooking required. While I prefer fresh, like most people, sometimes the cost or availability makes canned a good option.

Anyway, this is one of the meals I put together once. Like I mentioned in my other post, if the ingredients go well together, then it's good!
Sardines in oil(canned) pickles, and kidney beans.

 

[Mendalla]

I take a tin of sardines or herrings for lunch maybe once a week. Just have them with a bagel or other starch.

 

[passenger]

I like to keep canned tuna - right now I'm getting Ahi Wild Yellowfin Tuna
Salmon - Costco usually keeps Wild-caught Alaska Salmon, but they're out of that right now....so am I.
Usually make salad sandwiches with those; sometimes stir it in with scrambled eggs.
I occasionally spontaneously get a craving for sardines & crackers, so I keep sardines in the pantry, too.
Should eat more of those because, along with E.A. , I agree that sardines are least likely to have heavy metal contamination.


I've only tried herring a few times, also very good, but they're just not marketed as heavily here.