The Tangy And Spicy Ingredient To Add To Tuna Salad

Take your tuna salad sandwich from mundane to marvelous with the addition of kimchi, a staple ingredient in Korean households. In the same way dill pickles add a little something extra, kimchi's tart, spicy flavor can kick the flavor of tuna salad into high gear. And it's really easy to throw together.

You can make a batch of classic napa cabbage kimchi yourself, but it's easier to pick up a jar of store-bought kimchi. If your local supermarket doesn't have it, it's easily found at your local Korean market or even Costco. Just chop the kimchi into smaller pieces and mix it right into your own tuna salad recipe. Or you can toss your tuna and kimchi with sesame oil, soy sauce, green onion, and sesame seeds for an entirely different tuna salad experience. But when you're handling the kimchi, use gloves so the pepper seasoning doesn't stain your hands.

Eaten as a side dish, or "banchan," kimchi is salted and fermented vegetables, often seasoned with garlic, ginger, Korean red pepper flakes or gochugaru (a type of Korean chili powder), sweet rice flour paste, fish sauce, and a salted and fermented shrimp known as "saeu-jeot." Though recipes containing napa cabbage, or "baechu," are the most recognized version, there are many different kinds of vegetables used to make kimchi, from radish and green onion to young mustard greens and cucumber.

Kimchi is a delicious and healthful condiment packed with probiotics, making it an excellent addition to your tuna salad sandwich, not to mention adding a whole new depth of flavor and a juicy, crunchy texture. For the best flavor, use the best canned tuna brand you can buy. But many recipes also include other flavor-boosting ingredients, like fresh ginger, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and flavorful chile pastes. Mix and match or try them all, and kimchi might earn a permanent spot in your refrigerator.