Cucumber Boats with Spicy Tuna
Halved cucumbers loaded with leftover rice and a mayo-bound tuna mix. Cold lunch that eats like a real meal.
- calories
- 230
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 33
- protein
- 14 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Snack
- No cook
- Day hike
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Grab and go
- Day one only
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cucumber | 1 large | |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cooked sushi rice | 2 dl (about 3/4 cup) | cooked at home the night before |
| Canned tuna in water | 185 g | pouch tuna saves draining |
| Mayonnaise | 2 tbsp | single-serve packets |
| Green onion | 1 | chopped at home |
| Mustard | 1 tbsp | |
| Pickled jalapeño | 2 tbsp | chopped, drained |
| Fresh cilantro | 1 tbsp | |
| Lemon juice | 1 tsp | |
| Sriracha mayo | 2 tbsp | or plain mayo plus a squeeze of sriracha |
Method
- Split the cucumber lengthwise and scrape the seed channel out with a spoon.
- Salt the cut faces and lay them face down on a rock or a bandana for ten minutes. The salt pulls water out and the boats stay firm instead of going slack.
- Drain the tuna. Mix it in a bag or cup with the mayo, green onion, mustard, jalapeño, cilantro, and lemon juice.
- Wipe the cucumber dry and cut each half into four pieces.
- Press rice into each hollow, spoon the tuna mix over it, and stripe the sriracha mayo across the top.
This is a lunch you build rather than cook, which makes it worth carrying on a day out or a paddle with a cooler. Nothing here needs heat. The only real technique is salting the cucumber and letting it drain, and skipping that step is how you end up eating soup out of a limp shell.
The rice is what turns a snack into food. Cook it at home the night before and it keeps fine for a day in a cooler or a cold pack. Tuna, mayo, and rice together get you protein, fat, and carbohydrate in one bite. The jalapeño and lemon are there because cold mayo needs something sharp against it.
Packing
Cook the rice at home and pack it cold. Green onion, jalapeño, and cilantro get chopped at home and ride in one small container. The cucumber goes in whole and uncut so it does not weep in your pack.
Variations
- Skip the cucumber and eat the rice and tuna out of the bag as a rice bowl.
- Instant rice rehydrated with boiled water at camp works if you are carrying a stove anyway.
- Sesame seeds on top if you have them.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/rask/hot-agurksnack