Cooking with Canned Tuna
Choosing a tuna today is not an easy task. There is chunk light, chunk white, solid white albacore or premium albacore. Confusing matters more, there are now cans of select-prime light fillets and "gourmet's choice" light fillets. Chunk white or light tuna is now available reduced in sodium and lower in fat. These variations are all packed in spring water. If you do not want a fishy tasting tuna, get solid white or premium albacore. If you want a minced texture, choose chunk light. Select prime light fillets is on the mushy side while the "gourmet choice" fillets are quite firm. Low sodium chunk white tuna is popular because it has a light taste and saves 215 milligrams of salt. Many say they do not miss the salt at all.
A spokesman for Starkist says the difference in tuna taste and texture are dictated by the type of tuna in the can and what the fish is mixed with when it is cooked. Gourmet tunas tend to be yellowfin, all white tunas are albacore and the least expensive are usually skipjack.
A somewhat new type of tuna sells in pouches that do not require draining. The tuna cooks in half the time of the canned variety and has a fresher taste and firmer texture.
