Homemade Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl
It is time to kick start some good healthy eating habits with a delicious ahi tuna poke bowl.
It’s a new year! A new year, new you and here’s to healthy eating habits. As such, I’m going to try to go meatless once a week and integrate more fresh fish into our weekly diet. A friend recommended a reputable fishmonger called The Upper Scale who is based in Billingsgate Fish Market. For our New Years Eve dinner, I thought we’d be creative and make some sushi rolls at home. At first glance, the idea sounds fun, but rolling the perfect sushi roll with the right proportion of rice and fish ratio takes practice. A lot of practice!
We aborted the mission, and simply ate the sushi-grade salmon as sashimi. But, it got me thinking that i should try some easy and less time-consuming raw fish recipes. Enter: the delectable poke bowl!
Trendy Poke Bowl Made at Home
I love a good poke bowl! In recent years, trendy poke restaurants seem to be all the rage. All around town, new poke restaurants are popping up. If you’re a big sushi lover like me, then what’s not to love about an eye-popping and colourful poke bowl? It’s essentially a deconstructed sushi roll but in a bowl. The best part: it’s so easy to make at home with some high quality sushi-grade fish.
Deconstructing the Poke Bowl
So what’s in a ahi tuna poke bowl?
Poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish made of diced or sliced raw fish served over rice and topped with a variety of vegetables.
Sushi rice: The main source of carbohydrates is sushi rice – rice vinegar flavoured sticky rice with a touch of sweetness. Using brown rice and jasmine rice can be an alternative, but I like using sushi rice in keeping to the “deconstructed” sushi roll.
Sashimi Ahi Tuna Fish: High quality sushi-grade yellowfin tuna (or ahi tuna) is a must. It is best diced into small pieces rather than in big cubes. This is so that you get perfect proportion of rice, fish, and vegetables in each bite. The fish is gently tossed in a soy ginger marinade consisting of soy sauce, ginger, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, Japanese mirin, and some Sriracha.
Vegetables: Here we are talking about eating the rainbow with a colourful assortment of vegetables The options are endless but includes sliced radish, edamame, julienne carrots, sliced avocado, diced cucumber, and chopped spring onions.
Garnishes: The poke bowl is topped off with toasted black sesame seeds and a few slivers of seaweed.
Putting together the ahi tuna poke bowl is a breeze. Simply put the sushi rice in a large bowl and top it with ahi tuna, colourful veggies, and a few simple garnishes. Voila! A simple yet healthy and tasty ahi tuna poke bowl.
A new year, a new you! Here’s to healthy eating for 2021. Take care and be kind to yourself!
Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl
Ingredients
Sushi Rice:
- 2 cups 400g sushi rice, rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups 625 ml water
- 1/4 cup 60 ml rice vinegar
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Soy Ginger Marinade Dressing:
- 2.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2.5 tsp Sriracha
- 1.5 tsp grated fresh ginger
Poke Bowl:
- 400 g / 14oz sashimi grade tuna diced
- 1 carrot finely julienned
- 1 cucumber deseeded and finely diced
- 1 avocado peeled and sliced
- 6 red radish finely sliced
- 1 cup shelled edamame cooked
Garnish:
- 1 spring green onion finely sliced or diced
- Black sesame seeds
- Strips of nori seaweed
Instructions
Sushi Rice:
- In a large saucepan, rinse the rice. Bring the water and rice to boil over medium heat with no lid. Once boiling, lower the heat to a shimmer, place the lid on, and cook for 18-20 minutes undisturbed until the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to rest for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the sushi rice vinegar mixture by mixing rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt together. Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Using a rice paddle, gently fold the sushi rice mixture into the rice until well combined. Allow rice to come to room temperature.
Poke Bowl:
- In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the soy ginger marinade dressing.
- Divide rice between bowls. Top each bowl with radish, carrot, edamame, cucumberand avocado.
- Gently toss the diced tuna into the soy ginger marinade dressing and immediately transfer over the rice.
- Place tuna in Dressing and toss (no need to marinate), then immediately transfer onto rice.
- Garnish the rice bowls with spring green onions, black sesame seed and nori seaweed.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
