The simplicity of this dish contrasts with the complexity of its flavors. It has a strong taste from the vinegar, which has to be of a good quality, mixed with the sweetness from the onions.
This is a very typical dish from Panama; we call this way of cooking “encebollar” (to onion?) because of the big amount of onions used in the recipe. It is very popular too to encebollar steaks and we call that “bistec encebollado” very popular for breakfast in my country, served with patacones (fried plantains) or corn tortillas.
I hope you’ll like it. This is my contribution to the menu for this Holy Friday.
Ingredients
- 800 g of tuna
- 3 medium onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 10 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- ½ cup of water
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and black pepper
Directions
Chop the onion into julienne strips and slice the garlic.
The tuna should be cut into squares about 2 cm wide. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a shallow pan over medium-high, heat 6 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the tuna until golden brown, remove and set aside.
In the same pan, add the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil, sauté the garlic and the onion with the bay leaf and a bit of salt. Lower the heat and cook until the onion is soft (20 to 30 minutes).
When the onions are soft and golden brown, add the tablespoon of vinegar and scratch the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to recover what was left by the tuna.
Remove from heat, add the oregano and paprika, stir and add water and the tuna. Bring the pan to the stove again and cook everything over medium heat until the water evaporates.
Check the seasoning and serve.
Enjoy!
Yummers!! 🙂
😉 Thanks!
Oh this does sound good.. I have never been a great fan of tuna but maybe I should revisit it.. morning giovanna!! c
Thank you Cecilia! I’m glad you’re willing to give it a try 😉
Good morning to you too!
G
i am so luckly to live where encebollado is standard fare on the weekend menus. ecebollado ‘shops’ roll out their tables and stools on weekends then disappear again until the next weekend! yum yum yum!
Yum yum, indeed! 😉 thanks a lot for your comment L. 🙂
And I’ve got tuna out for supper tonight!
Hi Tandy! Did you do it? I hope you’ll like it 🙂
I love easy recipes that allow good ingredients to shine!
Hi Sawsan! Yes, this is a good example. Thanks a lot for your comment 🙂
For me this is an unusual recipe – I’m intrigued to know how it tastes , thank you Giovanna
Thank you Claire! It is really good, I hope you give it a try someday 🙂
Tuna is one of my favorite fish … but can never get if fresh here were I live …. I like everything about this recipe – so I will put it on file .. until the day I see fresh tuna at the supermarkets fish counter. Happy Easter to you.
Hi Viveka! I hope you find it soon 🙂
Thanks a lot for your comment! Happy Easter to you too 🙂
That is such classic Southern European cooking ( even though you are in Panama). The slow cooked onions are the base of so many delicious dishes. Just a wonderful recipe – thanks.
Hi Roger! Thanks a lot for your comment. Yes, this is a very popular dish here in Spain too, but I decided to take the Panamanian approach…;)
You do know that I live in Madrid, right?
Happy Easter!
I don’t eat fish …but this could turn me …
You don’t eat fish? Come on Rob! It is super healthy… I’m not a huge fan either 😉 but this way I like a lot.
Happy Easter, my friend! 🙂
This looks delicious!
Thank you! 🙂
We, too, have a simple tuna recipe, Giovanna, and yours sounds every bit as good — if not better. I must give yours a try. 🙂
And you know I’ll give yours a try too. If it’s a Bartolini recipe, is a good one 😉
Thanks a lot for your comment John, happy Easter!
This sounds like a terrific dish. I’m surprised I never saw it when I lived in Miami.
Thank you Karen! Yes, it is very good. Is weird that you never saw it before, because it is very popular in America (Hispanic) and Spain… Well, now you have a recipe 😉
Happy Easter!
Fabulous – don’t eat fresh tuna very often as I find it sometimes a little dry but like this….mmmm, que rico! Espero que lo has pasado bien con la familia, un abrazo.
¡Gracias Tanya! 🙂
oregano+caramelize tomato+tuna, nothing could possibly better…
Thanks! 😉