Create this colourful and healthy Hawaiian Tuna Poke Bowl at home!
Hawaiian poke bowls have been trending for the past couple of years here in Vancouver. There is a plethora of new poke restaurants popping up all over the city, offering customizable creations featuring marinated tuna or salmon. Poke bowls are colourful, healthy, and pretty simple to make at home! We have made this Poke bowl with Ahi tuna a few times already and cannot wait to make it again.
Poke is a traditional Native Hawaiian dish, usually served as an appetizer or main course. The word ‘poke’ means to ‘cut crosswise in pieces’ in the Hawaiian language. Poke seasonings are influenced by Japanese cuisine, often composed of sesame oil, soy sauce, and green onion.
One of our favourite parts of our trip to Hawaii a few years ago was trying the different poke places all over the island of Ohau. We travel to eat, so it is important for us to have a list of restaurants to visit for every destination. This the beauty of travel – the experience of a new cuisine and culture in it’s native environment.
It is interesting to see how traditional Hawaiian poke contrasts with the poke we have at local restaurants. Poke here in Vancouver is essentially a cross between a salad and a rice bowl with a few scoops of marinated fish. In Hawaii, when you order poke, you receive a container of marinated fish with a small amount of rice on the side and minimal ‘fix-ins.’ I have learned to appreciate both styles. On the rare occasion that I have not packed my own lunch, I will step out and grab a poke bowl from one of the 4 shops that are walking distance from my office.
The perfect poke bowl…
This Ahi Tuna Poke bowl is perfect for a special lunch. Seeing the all of the stunning colours on my plate makes me so happy and excited! This dish photographs beautifully, which is always a plus for us food bloggers since Instagram always eats first. Luckily, you do not have to worry about this dish getting cold while you take multiple snaps to capture this dish from all angles.
One of the important aspects of this dish is the sushi rice. I highly recommend to purchase real sushi rice for this dish as the grains are smaller and stickier than other varieties. It is also essential to season your sushi rice correctly so it complements the flavour of your fish. This meal is a treat, so you want to make sure you go all out!
We are keeping the marinade for the tuna quite simple. You can amp up the flavour of this Hawaiian poke bowl with the fix-ins. Basically, you can add anything that you would find in a sushi roll to this poke bowl. I have listed a few of my recommendations below, but feel free to get creative!
- Mango
- Edamame
- Radish
- Mixed greens
- Corn
- Seaweed
- Cucumber
- Avocado
It can be daunting to prepare and consume raw fish at home. We are all understandably afraid of food poising. The risks of food-borne illness from the consumption of raw tuna is reduced by freezing the fish. For this recipe, we used frozen yellowfin tuna steaks that we thawed overnight in the fridge. It is important to note that tuna is high in mercury due to the size of the fish and it’s position in the food chain. You want to limit consumption of yellowfin tuna to once per week to avoid accumulation of mercury.
Hawaiian Poke Bowl with Ahi Tuna
Equipment
- Rice cooker
Ingredients
Tuna Marinade
- 1 pound yellowfin tuna steak thawed and cubed
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sambal oeleck
- 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1½ cups water for cooking the rice
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ½ tbsp avocado oil sub any other vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp sea salt
Toppings
- mango diced
- edamae cooked if frozen
- avocado sliced
- cucumber diced
- green onion thinly sliced
- corn
- blanched kale or mixed greens
- sesame seeds
- wasabi mayo
- furikake
Instructions
Tuna
- Thaw your frozen tuna steaks in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- Dice the tuna into cubes, about half an inch thick.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, sambal oelek, ginger, and green onions.
- Toss the diced tuna in the marinade to coat evenly. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 30 minutes (up to one hour).
- Leave in the fridge until ready for assembly.
Sushi Rice
- In a rice cooker, use the sushi rice setting to cook your rice as per appliance directions. Our rice cooker takes about 45 minutes for perfectly cooked, fluffy rice.
- Spread the rice flat into a large pan or bowl to cool. The rice will start to dry farily quickly.
- Combine the rice vinegar, oil, sugar, and salt in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool.
- Drizzle the vinegar mixture over the rice and mix together until combined. Keep mixing until the rice has absorbed the seasoning.
- Scoop into serving bowls for assembly.
Assembly
- Carefully flatten the sushi rice on the bottom of the bowl, creating a bowl-shape for the tuna and toppings.
- Arrange your desired toppings around the outside of the bowl. Add a few scoops of the marinated tuna to the middle of the bowl.
- Sprinkle with furikake and sesame seeds. Add a dollop of wasabi mayo on the side for a hit of creamy heat. Enjoy!
Notes
Give our Poke bowl with Ahi tuna a try and let us know what you think! Cheers, friends!
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