Tuna and Salmon Poke Bowl
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice (uncooked)
- 1-2 Tbsps seasoned rice wine vinegar
Salmon
- 60-110 g sushi grade salmon (cut into 1cm pieces)
- 1/2 tsp chilli oil (can substitute with hot sauce, sambal olek, or sriracha)
- 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice (approx 1/8 of a lemon)
- 1/2 tsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
Tuna
- 60-110 g sushi grade tuna (cut into 1cm pieces)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp wasabi paste
Bowl
- 3 mini english cucumbers (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 1/4 cup chopped savoy cabbage
- 2 Tbsps fresh cilantro (chopped)
- 1 Tbsp pickled ginger
- 1/2 sheet roasted nori (cut into matchstick-sized pieces)
- 1/2 cup edamame beans
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
Rice
- Cook the sushi rice according to package instructions. Once cooked, sprinkle 1-2 Tbsps rice wine vinegar, mixing in and fanning the rice to cool. Once cool, place in two serving bowls.
Salmon
- In a small mixing dish, mix 1/2 tsp chilli oil or hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon vinegar and lemon juice, then toss the salmon in this mix, sprinkling with a pinch of salt. Place salmon on rice in bowls. (Stack over one part of the bowl, do not spread.)
Tuna
- Mix wasabi and 1 teaspoon soy in a small mixing dish, then toss tuna pieces in this mix, spoon out into rice in bowls, next to the salmon, allowing excess soy to fall back into small dish. Discard excess soy.
Bowls
- Arrange the rest of the ingredients around the fish on the rice: cabbage, cucumbers, ginger, nori, edamame, cilantro. Whisk together 2 tablespoons soy, 2 teaspoons vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp chilli oil or hot sauce. Drizzle the bowls with the dressing. Serve.
And now for the details…
When I’ve got a protein craving (yes, I get cravings for protein… I am a bit of a protein-aholic), the protein I want most is raw tuna. And so when I was shopping yesterday and walked past the sushi section and saw a dish of tuna and salmon sashimi, I grabbed it, drooling a little, thinking what a delicious treat it would be once I got home. I ended up getting home closer to dinner time, though, and decided to turn the sashimi into the full meal deal, and make a poke bowl.
Poke bowl restaurants exploded in the 2010’s, and you can often find them all over the place. But admittedly, the bowls we get there and what I have created here is not super accurate to its origins. Poke originates from Hawaii, where you can find it everywhere, from poke shops to grocery stores to gas stations. But you won’t usually see the big, colourful bowls, permeated with vegetables and avocados. More frequently, the poke is dished out on its own, or onto rice, in to-go containers and served up with minimal accoutrements. And to be honest, it doesn’t need the accoutrements. Most of the poke we had in Hawaii is so delicious in its own right, it doesn’t need a bunch of stuff to go with it. Knocking my own bowl a little bit? I guess so. The additions I’ve put in do complement the poke, but they are added more to create a balanced meal, rather than be true to origin.
With that, let’s make that bowl!
Start out by cooking the rice. I have used sushi rice, but you could use any rice that suits your fancy. I’ve seen poke restaurants use brown rice, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice. Whichever you are using, follow the package directions to cook the rice. If you are using sushi rice, once it is cooked, sprinkle the rice with 1-2 tablespoons of the rice wine vinegar, carefully stirring the vinegar in, being careful to not break the rice apart. Place the rice in two serving bowls, spreading it so it covers the bottom of the bowl.
Next, we prepare the fish. We are going to use different marinades for each fish, so keep them separate. Cut the fish into small pieces, about 1cm in size. Putting the fish into the freezer for a couple minutes will help make them easier to cut.
First, the tuna: whisk together the wasabi paste and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Add the tuna pieces, and toss until the tuna pieces are covered. Transfer immediately onto the rice bowl.
Next, the salmon: whisk 1/2 teaspoon chilli oil or hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar, and the lemon juice. Add the salmon pieces and toss to coat. Add a dash of salt to taste, then place the salmon next to the tuna on the rice bowl.
Place the cucumber, cabbage and cilantro around the fish.
Next, whisk the 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp chilli oil or hot sauce with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle the dressing over the bowls, getting it over the veggies and rice. Finally, place the edamame, ginger and nori, then serve!
(No pickled ginger in the house? No problem, neither did I! This recipe from the New York Times is a super fast, super easy way to put pickled ginger together, with only an hour resting time!)
Happy eating.