Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine sieve for draining the tuna
• •Medium mixing bowl
• •Fork for flaking and folding

Instructions

1. 1

   Drain the tuna properly

   Tip the tuna into a fine sieve and press it with the back of a spoon until no more water runs out. This is the step people skip and the reason their tunsalat turns out watery and grey. The tuna should look almost dry and flake apart when you press it. A wet tin gives you a sad salad; a properly drained one gives you something that holds its shape on a slice of rugbrod.

   Give it a minute longer than you think you need. The last spoonfuls of water are the ones that ruin the texture.
2. 2

   Prepare the vegetables

   Drain the corn well and tip it onto a piece of kitchen paper to blot. Defrost the peas under cool running water, then dry them the same way. Peas and corn carry more water than you would guess, and wet vegetables dilute the dressing. You want every ingredient going into the bowl as dry as you can reasonably get it.

3. 3

   Combine with care

   Tip the drained tuna into a bowl and break it up gently with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, the lemon juice, the corn, and the peas. Fold everything together with the fork. Don't stir hard. You want the tuna in soft flakes, not a paste, and you want to see the yellow of the corn and the green of the peas holding their shape. Add the snipped chives and fold them through.

   A fork is the right tool here. A spoon crushes everything into a single colour and you lose the thing that makes this dish pretty on bread.
4. 4

   Season and taste

   Add a pinch of salt and a turn of white pepper, then taste. Adjust. What you are looking for is brightness from the lemon, richness from the mayo, and the clean savour of the tuna sitting on top of it all. If it tastes flat, add a few more drops of lemon juice before you reach for more salt. Lemon is almost always the answer. You'll know when it's right when the flavour lifts off the spoon instead of sitting heavy on it.

5. 5

   Serve on rugbrod

   Spoon a generous mound of tunsalat onto a thick slice of dark rugbrod, spreading it to the edges but letting the bread show at the corners. Finish with a scatter of extra chives and, if you have it, a small handful of cress. Eat with a knife and fork. This is the weekday smorrebrod that built generations of Danish lunchboxes, and it deserves the same care you'd give the fancier pieces. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Tuna in water is the traditional Danish choice and keeps the salad clean and bright. Tuna in olive oil gives a richer, more luxurious result if you're serving it as a smorrebrod piece at the table rather than packing it in a lunchbox. Either is honest.
• •Good mayonnaise matters more than you'd think, because there are only a few ingredients and you can taste every one. Danish mayonnaise is slightly sweeter and softer than the French or American versions. If you can find a Danish brand, use it. If not, a good quality jarred mayo with a small pinch of sugar added will get you close.
• •Chives are the right herb here, not parsley and definitely not dill. Dill belongs to the fish and the cucumber; chives belong to the creamy things. It's a quiet distinction but a Danish one.
• •The salad is better after thirty minutes in the fridge than it is straight from the bowl. The flavours settle into each other. If you have the time, make it ahead and let it rest.

Advance Preparation

• •Tunsalat keeps well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two days. Any longer and the peas start to lose their colour and the lemon fades.
• •For a madpakke, assemble the smorrebrod in the morning rather than the night before. Tuna salad on rugbrod held overnight softens the bread, and rugbrod at its best has a little bite to it.
• •You can prep the components, drained tuna, corn, peas, the evening before and store them separately, then fold everything together in under a minute when you need it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)