Tuna Croquettes — Something to Make When the Kitchen Still Feels Full

Pasteles production week. The annual ritual, the December campaign, the three-day operation that requires banana leaves and masa and filling and the coordination of women and the supervision of one woman in particular who is eighty-three and in a wheelchair and who is here, in my kitchen, because I brought her, because pasteles cannot be made without Mami supervising, pandemic or no pandemic.

Rosa drove up from New Haven. Sofía was already here. Ana came from Bridgeport. Mami sat in her wheelchair by the island counter, wrapped in the shawl, and she watched us work. The kitchen was full — four women and one grandmother, which is the minimum staffing requirement for pasteles and also the maximum amount of opinions any one kitchen can hold. Rosa grated the plantains. Sofía portioned the filling. Ana wrapped, her folding technique still the best in the family — I will take this acknowledgment to my grave and not beyond. I supervised. Mami supervised me supervising, which is the hierarchy, which is the chain of command, which is how it has always been: Abuela Consuelo supervised Mami, Mami supervised me, and one day I will supervise whoever comes next and the supervision is the transmission, the supervision is the teaching, the supervision is the love made audible.

We made forty this year — down from sixty, because the table will be smaller and because my hands ache after the grating in a way they did not ache last year, a new ache, a middle-age ache that I note and dismiss because dismissing aches is a form of defiance and defiance is a form of cooking and cooking is a form of living and I am not done living.

Mami had a good day. She knew everyone's name. She corrected Rosa's grating technique twice. She told Ana the fold was loose — it wasn't, but Mami says the fold is loose every year because the criticism is the tradition, the criticism is the love, and Ana knows this and accepts it with the grace of a sixty-two-year-old woman who has been hearing this criticism for forty years. At 3 PM, Mami fell asleep in her wheelchair with a half-eaten pastel in her hand, and we let her sleep, the four of us working quietly around her sleeping mother, and the sleeping was its own form of supervision, the presence sufficient, the body in the room enough.

We sent Mami home with Rosa on Sunday evening, and by Monday the kitchen was mine again — quieter, emptier, and still smelling faintly of banana leaves. I wasn’t ready for a big production. My hands still ached. What I wanted was something that felt like the spirit of those three days without the forty-pastel undertaking — something I could shape with my hands, something fried, something that would fill the kitchen with a smell and remind me that the cooking continues even when the campaign is over. Tuna croquettes are not pasteles. But they are their own small ritual, and that Monday evening, a small ritual was exactly enough.

Tuna Croquettes

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4 (about 8 croquettes)

Ingredients

• 2 cans (5 oz each) tuna packed in water, well drained
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs, plus 1/3 cup for coating
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons finely diced celery
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable), for pan-frying
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Mix the croquette base. In a medium bowl, combine the drained tuna, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, beaten egg, onion, celery, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until evenly combined. The mixture should hold together when pressed; if it feels too wet, add breadcrumbs one tablespoon at a time.
2. Shape the croquettes. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup breadcrumbs on a shallow plate. Scoop about 3 tablespoons of the tuna mixture and form it into an oval or round patty about 3/4 inch thick. Press each croquette gently into the breadcrumbs, coating both sides and the edges. Set on a clean plate and repeat with remaining mixture — you should get about 8 croquettes.
3. Chill briefly. Refrigerate the shaped croquettes for at least 10 minutes. This helps them hold together during frying.
4. Pan-fry until golden. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Working in batches, add the croquettes without crowding. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula, until deep golden brown and crisp on both sides. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
5. Serve. Serve warm with lemon wedges and, if you like, a simple green salad or hot sauce alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 420mg