Poke!
Before I get on to the whys and whats of this week’s recipe I want to tell you about an event I am running this April in central London. On the evening of Saturday 16th April I’ll be hosting a yoga supper in the gorgeous Printworks Kitchen alongside yoga teacher Mona Heep. The event will start with a mindful flowing yoga sequence with Mona and a seasonal delicious 4 course vegetarian feast will follow. It’s set to be a wonderful evening and we are looking forward to sharing it with you! Tickets are available here.
So… On to this week’s recipe! At the beginning of this year, industry trend specialists declared their predictions for what was going to be popular this year. Poke (Poh-key) bowls were one of the hotly tipped trends, and since I’d never really had an opportunity to try one before now, I decided right there and then I had to be a trend setter and get a poke bowl recipe on the blog. It has taken me till March but hey that’s OK, this is a salad bowl after all and I’m not sure it was poke weather before now.
So what is a poke bowl? Its a Hawaiian dish. A bowl of rice topped with marinated raw tuna and all manner or flavourings, often eaten with chopsticks. A great example of a fusion dish inspired by mixing fresh pacific seafood with the origins and flavourings (sesame oil, seaweed, rice vinegar) from Japanese sushi. Japan and Hawaii are of course neighbours all be it separated by 4,000 miles of Pacific Ocean.
I decided to mix things up a bit with my Poke bowl after reading this Huffington Post article for inspiration. First up I’m using short grain black rice as I love the contrast of the black against the fish. The Nerone (also venus or forbidden) black rice I have used is a wholegrain rice and behaves and tastes much like brown rice, so be prepared for a longer cooking time. Secondly I’ve switched the tuna for smoked salmon. A poke bowl usually uses raw fish which is then ‘cooked’ in the marinade, much like a South American ceviche. However since rare top quality tuna isn’t so common around these parts, I thought it would be much safer and easier to use smoked salmon, which doesn’t need to be ‘cooked’ in a marinade. I know this isn’t authentic, but I think practicality and simplicity need to be borne in mind when I design my quick and healthy meals, especially if I want to inspire you to get cooking them too! In my method I suggest that you don’t leave the smoked salmon sitting in its dressing for too long or else it will start to break down, and especially don’t advise to add the ginger till just before serving time. 5-10 minutes in the dressing will be plenty to let the flavours infuse.
The chilli sauce was a bit of an experiment but a good one at that. Two chillies on their own wouldn’t blend into a sauce so I opted to use some tomatoes I had in the fridge which also helped tone down the chilli. Spicy enough to add some oomph, but creamy enough (along with the avocado) to compliment the tang of the shallots and spring onions in the salmon. The colour is less radioactive red in real life.
- 160g black rice (Nerone)
- 200g smoked salmon
- 2 spring onion, finely sliced
- 1 large or 2 small shallot
- 1 tbs toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp brown rice vinegar
- 1 tsp tamari soy sauce
- 5g ginger, minced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 tbs sesame seeds
- a few cherry tomatoes (mine are yellow British ones)
- seaweed flakes {optional, I used Mara seaweed kombu flakes}
- 2 red chilli, deseeded
- 8 red cherry tomatoes
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs greek yoghurt or mayonnaise
- ½ tsp sea salt
- First rinse your rice then cook it according to type and packet instructions. Black rice cooks much like brown rice, it will take about 30-35 minutes.
- Next make up your chilli sauce by blending all the ingredients in a small processor or in the jug of an immersion blender, a large blender won't be able to work on this small amount of sauce. Transfer to a glass jar. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
- Meanwhile chop your salmon into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl along with the spring onion and shallots. Then add the sesame oil, brown rice vinegar, tamari and ginger and stir well. If you are making the salmon way ahead of eating don't add the ginger yet as it will break down the fish too much. Just before serving stir through the diced avocado and sesame seeds.
- When your rice is cooked, drain and rinse well then pile into a bowl topping with all of the salmon and avocado mix. Pile it high, then add the cherry tomatoes to the bowl, and sprinkle with seaweed. Invite your guests to add their own chilli sauce. It packs quite a punch but really brings the dish together. You will have plenty of sauce left over.
What would you put in your Poke bowl?
This is a gorgeous, gorgeous recipe, Ceri. Growing up we had a Hawaiian family at our church and they would make poke for us on occasion (they also taught us traditional Hawaiian dance. But the less said about that the better!). They called it something else though. It was something quite far out back then but I remember very much loving this idea. Kudos to you for this interpretation.
Thanks so much Kellie. Love hearing your story too (I’m imagining the dancing…). I’m totally new to Poke, so think I have a lot of exploring to do!
Never had forbidden rice or a poke bowl – I am going to have to change that. Awesome recipe Ceri.
Thanks Bintu, I didn’t realise quite how new these things were! Hope you get to enjoy them soon 🙂
Fab recipe! And to think I thought a Poke was something you did to someone on Facebook. Every day’s a school day.
I tried my hardest not to include any puns in this recipe and there you go….. Happy to have taught you something 🙂 Thank you!!
This looks great! I have some Mr Organic brown rice in my cupboard so I shall have to give it a go!
Thanks Charlie! Hope you get the chance to try it soon, I am sure it will be perfect with brown rice!
I’ve never heard of a Poke bowl before, such a great concept. A nourishing bowl that covers all the important food groups.
Happy to have started a new vibe – I didn’t realise so many people hadn’t heard of it either. Hope you get the chance to try one yourself soon! Thanks Jemma.
I had never heard of a Poke bowl before, but I already love your version! (good) Raw tuna is not the easiest to find in Texas either so I’m happy for the smoked salmon substitute! Thanks for all your detailed tips! Will add ginger when serving!
Thanks Natalia. I’m sure its more of a west coast thing, perhaps? My californian friends all knew what it was! Hope you get the chance to try one with smoked salmon soon!
Looks amazing! I just learned that my clever and talented live-off-the-land brother will be spending Thanksgiving with us and he has already promised a delivery of his own wild-caught smoked salmon from Oregon. This recipe will be the ideal way to enjoy it!
Thanks Stacey, ooh that wild caught salmon sounds amazing! As does the idea of living off the land. Alas city living prevents it. Enjoy!
I LOVE poke bowls, so freakin yummy!
Thanks! I need to try making more versions again soon! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Hi Ceri! I’d love to include this recipe in a round-up on poke bowls I’m writing for Life by Daily Burn. Let me know if you’re fine with me using the photo. We will provide photo credit and link directly to your blog for the recipe.
Thanks!
Tiffany
Hi Tiffany, thanks for asking. Yes that’s totally fine! Ceri 🙂
I have never ever tried making or have eaten a poke bowl before! It looks delicious and something that I would love. Lovely photos.
Thanks Thalia, nor had I before this recipe (though I had heard of it obviously!) Its great fun!!
Thanks for the sharing the such a great content!
🙂 THANKS!