surviving on food from nowhere: tuna chili tops

we rummaged around our trusty old ref and found in the vegetable compartment a bundle of chili tops.

chili tops are the young leaves of a native siling labuyo. this is a small chili pepper whose hotness is strong but not very sharp to the tongue. it's a bit mellow and tolerable. i think this is also known as bird's eye chili pepper. i have to ask pilgrim's pots and pans for the technical aspects of this wonderful chili pepper.


going through our food cab, a can of tuna was there waiting for us.


my hunny had an idea of combining both ingredients for dinner. she developed a marvelously combination of flavors between the saltiness of tuna and the slightly bitter taste of the chili tops.


tuna chili tops

1 bundle chili tops
1 can 350 gm tuna, solid in vegetable oil

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 medium onion chopped

oil for sauteing

salt and pepper

1 boiled egg, quartered

fried chopped garlic for garnish

remove the leaves from the tough stems of the chili tops. select only the young and tender leaves. add as well the baby chili peppers if you find them hidden within the young leaves.


on a hot pan, add oil. add the garlic. before turning brown, add the onions. garlic should be a bit white and not golden brown.


open the the can of tuna. add the oil in the saute then drop the solid tuna in the pan. saute for about 2 minutes. add the chili tops. simmer till the leaves are limp or for about 2 minutes more.


put the tuna chili tops in a bowl. top it with the quartered boiled egg. if desired, add the fried garlic chip on top to add flavor and character to the dish.


good alternate: spinach


a good substitute for the chili tops is spinach. just trim the spinach from the main vine and use it instead of the chili tops.
you can use the spinach as whole leaf or you can roughly chop them like what we did.