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Ensalada Murciana (Moje Murciano)
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Ensalada Murciana is Murcia's cold tomato salad, made with preserved tomato, tuna, hard egg, sweet onion, and cuquillo olives. Use tinned tomato on purpose, not as a fallback.
Salads
Spanish
Quick Meal
Budget Friendly
Outdoor Dining
15 min
Active Time
10 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
Ensalada Murciana, also called moje murciano, belongs to Murcia: preserved tomato torn into a bowl with tuna, hard-boiled egg, sweet onion, black cuquillo olives, salt, and good olive oil. It is not a fresh tomato salad pretending to be summer. The tinned tomato is the point, soft and juicy from the jar, ready to make its own dressing in the bottom of the bowl.
The method that decides it is the tomato. Use whole peeled tomatoes in their juice, drain them enough that the salad isn't watery, then tear them by hand so they stay uneven and meaty. The onion sits with the tomato, salt, and oil for a few minutes, just long enough to lose its bite. Then the tuna, egg, and olives go on top. Bread will tell you if you got it right, because there should be a red, oily juice worth mopping.
If you're far from Murcia, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use good whole canned plum tomatoes, not diced ones, and black oil-cured olives if you can't find cuquillo. The flavor will be a little less sweet and Murcian, but the salad still knows where it's going. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Moje murciano comes from the hot, dry southeast, where tomatoes were preserved in jars at the height of the season so they could be eaten when fresh tomatoes were poor or gone. Murcia's huerta, the irrigated market garden around the Segura, made tomatoes, onions, olives, and preserved fish part of the everyday larder. The dish is also called mojete in parts of Murcia and neighboring La Mancha, but the Murcian bowl is marked by preserved tomato, tuna, hard egg, and dark cuquillo olives.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole peeled tomatoes in juice, preferably Spanish tomato en conserva
Quantity
800g
drained, juice reserved
tuna in olive oil
Quantity
160g
drained lightly
large eggs
Quantity
3
sweet onion or spring onion
Quantity
120g
thinly sliced
cuquillo olives or black oil-cured olives
Quantity
80g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
reserved tomato juice (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon, if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole peeled tomatoes in juice, preferably Spanish tomato en conservadrained, juice reserved | 800g |
| tuna in olive oildrained lightly | 160g |
| large eggs | 3 |
| sweet onion or spring onionthinly sliced | 120g |
| cuquillo olives or black oil-cured olives | 80g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| reserved tomato juice (optional) | 1 tablespoon, if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan for eggs
- •Sieve
- •Shallow serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Put the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, then cool under cold water, peel, and cut into quarters. The yolks should be fully set but still yellow, not grey at the edge.
- 2
Drain the tomato
Set a sieve over a bowl and drain the whole peeled tomatoes for 5 minutes, keeping the juice. Tear the tomatoes into rough pieces with your hands and put them in a shallow serving bowl. Don't chop them small; moje wants soft, uneven pieces that hold oil and salt.
- 3
Soften the onion
Add the sliced onion, salt, and olive oil to the tomato. Turn gently and let it sit for 5 minutes. That short rest is the little trick: the onion gives up its harshness, the tomato releases a red juice, and the oil becomes the dressing.
- 4
Finish the bowl
Break the tuna into large flakes over the tomato, then add the egg quarters and olives. Spoon a little of the red oil from the bottom over everything. If the salad looks dry, add 1 tablespoon of the reserved tomato juice, no more, or you'll thin the oil and lose the point.
- 5
Serve with bread
Taste for salt and serve at cool room temperature, not fridge-cold. Put bread on the table for the juice in the bottom of the bowl. That's not extra. That's part of the dish, tal como se hace allí.
Chef Tips
- •Use whole peeled tomatoes, not diced. Diced tomatoes are treated to stay firm, and they taste tinny in this salad. Whole tomatoes tear softer and give the right juice.
- •Cuquillo olives are small, dark, and a little wrinkled, with a deep flavor that belongs here. If you can't find them, use black oil-cured olives. Plain canned black olives are the weak substitute; they bring color but not much taste.
- •Do not make this with fresh winter tomatoes. Murcia made this salad from preserved tomato because preserved summer tomato is better than a sad fresh one. In high summer, Murcia has other tomato salads; this one keeps its own reason.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil the eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them unpeeled in the refrigerator.
- •Assemble the tomato, onion, salt, and oil up to 2 hours ahead. Add the tuna, eggs, and olives just before serving so they stay clean and distinct.
- •Leftovers keep 1 day covered in the refrigerator, but serve them at cool room temperature and re-taste for salt before eating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
345 calories
Total Fat
26 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
785 mg
Total Carbohydrates
11 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
16 g
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