Canned Tuna Rice – Quick Meal for One

There is only one dish, or better say one product, that I cook in a microwave. It is sushi rice. Since I had tried it many years ago, it had remained on my meal for one menu until today. I love rice, and I love Koshihikari rice the best of all. I use it for everything, even risotto, and no one can convince me otherwise.

Prepared in 16 minutes in microwave, it is delicious without anything, just some seasoning. Mixed with small can of tuna with any flavourings it makes fast and easy nourishing meal, tasty either warm, or cold. Canned tuna, first in springwater, and later in mild sauces, was instrumental in my recovery from severe anaemia after coeliac disease diagnosis. At that stage of my recovery I did not tolerate any meat, especially red, or any iron supplements, even organic and from natural sources. So, this simple dish has a special sentimental value for me.

However, now I use a knob of butter, my own garlic, sweet and hot chilli peppers preserve, vegetables (mostly fresh carrots and sometimes corn or peas) and homemade chicken stock to cook rice. When cooking rice to serve it with canned tuna, I prefer to use tap water instead, as liquid in canned tuna provides enough flavours.

The choice in tuna flavourings is wide, allowing to select the taste you like most.

Ingredients:

main

• 1 cup sushi rice (enough for 3-4 servings)
• sea salt
• small (90/100g) can of tuna per one serving

additional to cook rice

• knob of butter
• spice preserve/paste/mix
• grated carrot/s (any other firm vegetables)
• 3 cups of chicken stock, when using stock do not use sea salt

to serve

• herbs, I used fresh parsley from the garden

Preparation:

Step by step preparation is first shown using chicken stock. For canned tuna dish, rice was cooked using boiling water.

• place rice, butter and spice preserve in Pyrex bowl
• add grated carrots and stock, heated to boiling point
• stir all ingredients
• cook in microwave on high for 16 minutes, after 8 minutes stir again

half cooked rice

fully cooked rice

rice cooked in boiling water

• mixed with fresh parsley and served with tuna in onion and tomato savoury sauce

I had tuna rice with beetroot juicy salad as a side dish. Ingredients in beetroot salad are: cooked beetroot, cooked al dente carrots, dill cucumbers, fresh onions, canned baby peas, a touch of avocado oil, salt and black pepper for seasoning.

When rice was cooked in chicken stock it was used to serve pork in teriyaki sauce.

The hardest thing is not to finish all rice in second helping, which is known to have happened to me. The only excuse is that the cup I use is small, not a standard size.