First of all, I'd like to say that this is my first time, in almost two decades, having to try canned tuna, as I lived a meat-filled foodie life. I tried eating freshly cooked tuna once before and I really didn't like it. Actually, I am not a fan of fish. There are only a number of fish that I love eating, that including skinless (I can't overemphasize this right now) bangus or milkfish, cream dory (filleted), golden threadfin bream (deep fried), tilapia, and maya-maya (snapper).
I am not a fan of fish because most of them don't great for me and I really dislike the odor of fish in general. But, perhaps I'd try more of these for a change.
Secondly, because it's APEC week and I didn't want to spend a lot dining outside (and I really want to save), I decided to challenge myself by eating canned tuna.
I bought five cans --- one (1) San Marino Tuna Flakes in Oil (original), two (2) San Marino Tuna Flakes (Hot & Spicy), and two (2) Mega Tuna Flakes in Oil --- all of which I will each eat every dinner from Tuesday to Saturday.
When I was shopping for canned tuna, I chose San Marino Tuna Flakes in Oil over Century Tuna Flakes in Oil because in paper, San Marino packed more protein content per gram, and in essence, was more cost-efficient to purchase it over the latter.
Today, my first eyeball night with canned tuna has come to a start. I cooked San Marino Tuna Flakes with my favorite protein source, egg. I wasn't sure if the tuna flakes were ready-to-eat already and I really did not want to take risks eating it from the can itself, so I cooked it over an electric induction cooker.
One thing I didn't like about the packaging was that it was hard to open the can up. The connector you use to pull the cover out detached easily. I had to pry it open using a can opener. Or maybe it was just bad luck.
When I opened the can and viewed it up close, I felt disappointment. It was not packed with a lot of tuna! It was, in fact, swimming in milliliters of vegetable oil. I felt cheated because I thought the 180 grams stated in the can was referring to almost 180 grams (or at least 150 grams) of tuna flakes, but it was literally drowning in vegetable oil. :( Now, I don't know with Century Tuna and I am yet to try Mega Tuna, but I wish I have researched first online and eventually realized there's a certain brand of canned tuna named Permex that has much tuna in it, it outweighs the other brands totally.
Because I didn't want to eat just pure tuna flakes and I knew that there's vegetable oil in it, I decided to cook it. Note that I removed most of the vegetable oil as I felt it was unhealthy for me to include a large volume of it in my dish.
I pressed on the Braise button and dumped in the San Marino flakes. It was cooking hot. At the back of my mind I wanted more protein, hence, I beat two medium-sized eggs, sprinkled it with iodized salt, added Aji Ginisa (This is really funny! haha! I didn't know what I was doing at all.), and poured the egg mixture into the pan with tuna flakes after shifting from Braise to Fry button.
Using a pair of fork and spoon, I then continuously cooked the canned tuna with the egg hoping it would end up like an omelette. And it ended up frustrating hahaha. I'm no cook, but I can definitely produce omelette, but this was something hahaha. It turned out to be like a corned beef mixture probably for the reason that there were more chunks than flakes in it. I just went on and mixed the ingredients together to make sure everything was cooked (according to my instincts hehe).
I then transferred the dish into my plate and added two (2) slices of Tiffany bread with a Cheez Whiz and trooped towards my mini-dining area.
Now, the taste test. Because I have almost no experience with tuna, San Marino Tuna Flakes has then become my standard. On a rate of 1 to 10, I'm giving it an 8 because to be honest, I liked it. I really did. The flakes were soft and not hard to swallow. The dish was yummy together with the egg (which was supposed to have ended up as an omelette, but I think I failed haha) and with bread as my substitute for rice. Just don't add Cheez Whiz! HAHA. It was too salty for me. I thought it would match with the basic San Marino Tuna Flakes with Egg dish (not an omelette by the way haha), but I really did not enjoy having Cheez Whiz as a dip haha.
I then completely, yet gradually, devoured the meal, but right before I was about to consume all of it, I have already eaten all two (2) Tiffany bread slices and still had two spoonfuls of San Marino Tuna Flakes with Egg remaining. So I had to eat it as it is, and I almost threw up. HAHA. This is probably because my hunger was already satiated or because my mind wasn't able to fully adapt to the idea that I was almost able to consume 1 can of tuna flakes. I would prefer the former though.
To end this post, I'd like to say that San Marino Tuna Flakes in Oil is quite yummy when cooked with egg to form a "fail" omelette, but you have to pair it with sliced bread so that the "umay" factor fades away. You can also try it fresh from the can! Just let me know how it tastes like.
P.S. Will let you know soon how it fares against the canned Mega Tuna Flakes brand. Hope you enjoyed this San Marino Tuna Flakes review and story of my "fail" cooking adventures. Also, I apologize I didn't get to place photos --- actually, I wasn't able to take shots of the whole dish-making haha --- because I was already excited (more of starving) to consume all of it. Next time, I'll capture the dish and add them in my future posts. :)
Gian Scottie Javelona wanted to change lives by making revolutionary products. 
