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Tuna recipes for Baked, Simmered, Fried, Broiled, Poached, Smoked and Grilled tuna
Tuna are carnivorous fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. They have streamlined bodies specifically adapted for efficient extremely fast swimming, large white muscle masses useful for swimming long distances, and red muscle masses for short bursts of speed when chasing prey or escaping predators. They are fast swimmers, can swim up to 43 mph (70 km per hour).
Family include several warm-blooded species. They have circulatory heat exchangers that can regulate their body temperatures, and tunas circulatory system through muscular activity can raise their body temperature above that of the water in which they live.
They are large, muscular, extremely fast swimmer of the mackerel family. Most species have blue or blue-black backs that fade into silvery sides and bellies. Smallest are skipjacks (5 to 40 lbs.), followed by albacores (10 to 60 lbs.), and yellow-fin (can weigh several hundred lbs.) blue-fin is largest (up to one ton).
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Tuna recipes:
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Tuna, Scombridae Family
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Also known as: Albacore, bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna (or ahi), skipjack tuna (or aku), bonito, bigeye tuna, tunny.
Tuna have pink to dark red flesh, which comes from tuna muscle tissue's greater quantities of myoglobin, an oxygen-binding molecule. The dense and firm meat is tender, full-flavored, and flaky. While tuna usually contains a moderate amount of fat, it can be on the oily side. The meat ranges in color from pale pinkish-white (albacore) to dark red (blue-fin, yellow-fin) in general, the darker the tuna, the stronger the flavor. The color of the flesh lightens ofter the meat is cooked. The skin is tough and inedible.
Yellowfin is low in saturated fat and sodium and is a very good source of protein, thiamin, selenium, and vitamin B6. Food value is excellent, although some yellowfin tuna are white-fleshed, most are pink to red.
Best Cooking:
Until recently, tuna has been regarded strictly as an out-of-the- can treat. Cooks are becoming increasingly aware of the versatility and fine flavor of the fresh, beef-like meat. Fresh or frozen steaks are excellent grilled, and can be stuffed with fresh herbs and spices before grilling. Steaks can also be broiled, baked, poached, or pan-fried. It is easy to overcook tuna, so take care many cooks prefer to sear or char the meat, leaving a pink center.
Yellowfin tuna are a high-fat species, better suited to grilling and broiling than many other preparations techniques.
How to buy Tuna:
Look for moist, unmarred steaks that glisten and are free of browning, gaping, and signs of drying. Generally, prefer steaks that are of uniform color (except for the mid-lateral strip of dark meat, which many cooks prefer to remove before cooking). Yellowfin tuna is sold fresh, frozen, or canned as light-meat tuna (often blended with skipjack tuna and a bit darker in color than canned albacore).
Freezing and cold storage:
Nutrition Value:
Tuna is an oily fish, and therefore contains a high amount of Vitamin D. Canned tuna can also be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. It sometimes contains over 300 milligrams (0.011 oz) per serving. Canned tuna is a prominent component in many weight trainers' diets, as it is very high in protein and is easily prepared.
Tuna, 3 oz./85g (cooked, dry heat) Calories: 156, Protein: 25.4g, Carbohydrate: 0.0g, Total Fat: 5.3g, Fiber:0.0g
Excellent source of: Selenium (39.8mcg), Niacin (8.9mg), and Vitamin B12 (9.2mcg). Provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value.
Good source of: Magnesium (54.4mg). Provide between 10 and 20% of the Recommended Daily Value.
When cooked (dry heat), tuna (bluefin, fresh) provides 1.504 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) (0.363g) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) (1.141g), per 100 grams of tuna (bluefin, fresh).
When canned in water and drained, tuna (light) provides 0.272 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) (0.047g), DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) (0.223g), and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) (0.002g), per 100 grams of tuna (canned in water and drained).
When canned in oil and drained, tuna (light) provides 0.202 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) (0.027g), DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) (0.101g), and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) (0.074g), per 100 grams of tuna (canned in oil and drained).
Substitutes for Tuna:
Blackfish, Bluefish, Mackerel, Salmon.
Notes:
Before cooking, you may want to remove the mid-lateral section of dark meat that runs through some steaks, which can have a strong, fishy, somewhat bitter flavor.
Fresh tuna is delicious served raw, sashimi- or sushi-style (Japanese cooks prefer to find leaner cuts of tuna for this purpose). Also popular in Japan is tsuna hamu-smoked tuna sausage.
Canned, precooked tuna may be packed in oil or water and is sold in a "white" or "light" (albacore) variety and a "dark" (bluefin or skipjack) variety. "Solid" or "fancy" denotes large pieces of tuna, "chunk" is medium-sized, and "flaked" or "grated" is small bits and pieces. Italian tonno is brined, oil-packed dark-meat tuna.
Tuna winters in warmer southern waters and migrates northward in springtime you will find it fresh and "in season" in fish markets from May until late fall.
All tuna harber bacteria in their meat, that if not handled correctly can cause scombroid poisoning in humans.
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