TUNA PRESERVED IN OIL

I SAID I WAS DIETING and as I said, I also hit Chinatown the other day and made major purchases from the Atlantic Ocean. (I think they're all from the Atlantic Ocean.)

I haven't gotten to making everything yet, but, I bought 3-1/2 pounds of Sushi grade tuna, a pound of baby octopus, a pound of medium-huge shrimp, a pack of razor clams (about 35 to be precise) and a whole flounder all for the tasty price tag of $58.00! The fish is always extremely fresh in Chinatown and the price certainly is right!

Periodically, I get the yen to make my own preserved tuna in oil and when the price of tuna hovers just below $8.00 a pound, it is the perfect time to invest in making a few jars of it. As I've said before, make this once and you'll never buy a can of tuna again. The jar pictured below is about a pound of tuna, which in a store would cost about $35.00. You do the math.

3-4 pounds tuna

8 cups water

2 tbs. sea salt

5 tsp. red or white wine vinegar

4 cups oil (I mix olive and canola oils for this but you can use any vegetable oil of your choice

Slice the tuna into steaks and put them in a pot with the water and the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the vinegar and cook over moderately high heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the tuna with a slotted spoon and place on a flat roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Allow to cool. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for at least 10 hours or overnight.

Make sure you have enough sterilized canning jars to hold all the tuna you'll be preserving. Pull the tuna steaks apart into long  wedges. Any of the broken pieces should be place at the bottom of each jar to help anchor the longer strips. Arrange the strips vertically in the jar leaving about 1/2 inch clear at the top. Do this with all the jars until the tuna is completely used up. Fill each jar with the oil and let rest for at least 30 minutes to allow the tuna to absorb the oil. Add more oil at the end before you seal the tops, leaving some room in between the surface and the top of the twist off cover. 

Place all of the jars in a large stock pot which has been lined with a metal insert or a folded dish towel. Fill the pot with cold water and set over a high flame and bring to the boil. Cook for 60 minutes. Cooking time should be timed from the moment you turn on the stove. After an hour, turn off the stove and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes but letting the jars sit in the water until completely cooled is fine too.

Remove from water, dry the outsides of the jars and store in a cool, dark and dry place or in the refrigerator. If sealed properly, the tuna will last for approximately 1 year.

Buon appetito!