Despite some scientific findings about tuna having high mercury content, tuna remains one of my favorite food. Tuna lumpia, tuna omelet and most recently, the tuna kimchi chigae are just some of the dishes I cook repeatedly at home. During last Saturday’s Century Tuna Bloggers’ Cook-off, it was time to discover again some kick-ass tuna-based dishes. Imagine scanning the table for 20 or so ingredients and being able to decide right there and then what to cook, based on the short time allotted. Modesty aside, the finished product certainly looked and tasted like something close to gourmet!

So here it is, our group’s recipes. We hope Century Tuna will be able to adapt them in their test kitchens in the future (if they haven’t, that is)

Corned Tuna Quesadilla with Tomato-Pear Salsa
Preparation/cooking time: approximately 20 minutes

Put a piece of flour tortilla on a plate. Sprinkle with grated cheese, and then regular corned tuna. You may use the chili variety if you want it more spicy. Add in diced red and green bell peppers, to add more flavor and color. Top with very thinly sliced pear. Cover filling with another tortilla then press down.

Put the sandwich in a heated nonstick pan and toast until slightly brown. Flip to the other side. Cut into wedges before serving. Serve with tomato-pear salsa.

To prepare salsa: Thinly dice tomatoes, pear, red and green pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Add in a little olive oil, then mix.

Corned Tuna Tagliatelle Pasta with Spinach, Asparagus, Almonds and Miso
Preparation/cooking time: 30 minutes
We swear this is as good as Yellowcab’s Charlie Chan pasta!

Cook pasta until al dente, approximately 10-12 minutes. Set aside. In a heated pan, toast almonds then slice into slivers. Set aside.

Sauté garlic, onions, green onion stalks and sliced asparagus. Add a can of Century Corned Tuna Chili. Add in soy sauce, white wine, miso and a pinch of paprika. Put spinach leaves last, and saute for another three minutes. Toss in cooked tagliatelle pasta and mix. Top with slivered almonds.

(For more recipes, click on the Century Tuna website)

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The concept was similar to Iron Chef. There was this long table laid out with a variety of ingredients, and the challenge was to come up with any pasta and appetizer dish that would appeal best to a panel of judges, all to be done in 45 minutes! Our finished dishes would be judged based on the following criteria: Plating (20%), Originality (20%), Taste (25%) and the Innovative Use of Century Corned Tuna (35%).

That’s moi with Jane and Erlyn prior to the cooking frenzy. Was so glad to belong to Team B which also consisted of AJ, Arpee and Ohmski. One thing that made us win: our incomparable teamwork!

There was also our great coach, Chef Donna Morales. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without her helpful suggestions

One thing we learned: Century Tuna is healthy to eat, and so versatile. You won’t believe the kind of dishes we made just by using it.

We were able to prepare:

a delicious Tuna Quesadilla added with thinly slices of pears for that extra crunch

a savory Asian-inspired Tuna Pasta with Spinach, Asparagus, Almonds and Miso.

I promise to share our recipe here soon, as they’re easy to make and yet, will surely impress guests at your next party.

Judging time. There were a number of judges including advertising exec Ariel Comia (a.k.a Mr. Bearbricklove) and Doc Gelo, as well as the Century Tuna Superbod Model winners.

The best part was winning the grand prize of ten thousand pesosesoses which we had to divide among ourselves for an early Christmas shopping money. Yippee. Thank you Century Corned Tuna, PC & V, Rogue Digital, and The Stock Market