The summer is in full swing in BC, and that means spending less time in the kitchen and enjoying the outdoors more. Today’s recipe is a fun summer meal that does not require you to spend entire day in the kitchen and yet the meal comes out wholesome and satisfying. You simply chop up some ingredients, combine them in a bowl, and enjoy!
I am talking about poke bowl, a concept that became increasingly popular in the past few years.
What is Poke?
Poke (pronounced PO-KAY or POH-KAY) is the Hawaiian word meaning “to slice, cut or cubed”. It is basically a colorful and well balanced bowl of salad with raw fish, rice, greens, and vegetables, served either as an appetizer or as a main course and is one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine ( from Wikipedia). It’s very much like any other salad bowl meal but with the Asian flare.
Poke Bowls are pretty trendy right now and one of my favorite meals but can’t afford to eat out at restaurants every time I fancy this delicious, elegant raw fish dish! So, I decided to start making them at home. My family actually like the poke bowls I make at home. Better than the ones we eat out! They are fresh, tasty and healthy, high in omega 3 fats, colorful and they provide a good dose of veggies and whole-grains.
For this salmon poke bowl, I used salmon as my protein source, which I cooked in the oven with minimum seasoning. It was then accompanied by mixed grain, sliced cucumbers, sliced radishes, sliced beetroot, sliced carrot, shredded cabbage, shelled edamame, cubed mangoes and garnished with green onion. And then it was all topped with spicy mayo and the homemade traditional sesame soy dressing! It’s important to note that you can make poke bowl however you want to suit your taste and dietary preferences. Below are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
How to make a poke bowl?
The important thing to know about poke bowl is that it combines contrasting temperatures, flavors, and textures.
The Base
Starting from the base which should be warm, the choice here can be either rice, mixed grains, quinoa, or soba noodles. If you want it carb less, replace the rice base with shaved cabbage, zoodles, or cauliflower rice.
The Protein:
The traditional centerpiece of poke is fresh cubes of tuna but you could use another protein – salmon, shrimp, crab, tofu, seitan, paneer, or chickpeas. If you’re using the fish raw, it MUST be sashimi grade and cut into even size pieces. If you are using cooked protein, try not to over season it.
The Sauce:
One of the most important components of a poke bowl is the sauce. There are so many types of sauces that you can drizzle over your delicious bowls like a ponzu sauce, sesame soy sauce, creamy sriracha mayo, or wasabi mayo.
Toppings and Additions
The texture is key when it comes to poke. Things like bean sprouts, shelled edamame, cucumber, radish, carrot, mango, pineapple, seaweed, crispy onion, crushed nuts, and sesame seeds are commonly added but the options are endless. All you need to do is take a look in your fridge what you have.
The Assembly
Divide rice ( not more than 1/3 cup) among bowls, then plate individual ingredients on top of rice and arrange by color. A poke should be pretty!
Hope you enjoy this Poke Bowl as much as my family does! And for all my Canadian friends, Happy BC day Long weekend!
Don’t you just want to dive into this bowl of goodness?
A simple yet addictive meal full of taste and healthy ingredients.
Ingredients
- 450 g salmon, cut into cubes
- Salt, lemon juice, pepper
- 1 cup wild rice mix
- 2 cups +2tbsp water
- Mango, cubed
- Cabbage, shredded or chopped
- Green onion, chopped
- Edamame, shelled
- Broccoli, bite size pieces (I blanched it)
- Squash, sliced
- Cucumber, sliced
- Carrot, sliced
- Sesame soy dressing Recipe here in my Vegan Sushi Salad bowl
- GF Sriracha mayo (I used Lee Kum Kee brand its certified GF but you can also make it at home by mixing sriracha and mayo)
- Spring onions, thinly sliced
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add wild rice mix and water in a saucepan. Place on a high heat.
- Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until rice is almost tender about 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook fish. Sometime I bake but most times I steam in instant pot.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- Cut salmon into bite size pieces. Toss with lemon juice, salt and pepper (Don't put too much as we are going to drizzle with the sesame soy dressing at the end).
- Bake until salmon flakes easily with a fork and is slightly opaque, about 20-25 minutes.
- Add 1 cup water to the instant pot insert.
- Place a trivet / steam rack at the bottom (make sure water isn’t touching bottom of rack)
- Put cubed salmon pieces on steam rack.
- Close lid and steam valve. Select steam function for 2 minutes.
- Once the time is up. Do a quick release.
- While the rice is cooking, make the sauce by mixing together, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger powder, wasabi paste, rice vinegar and red pepper flakes (recipe here ).
- Divide the healthy serving of rice mix between bowls (I use 1/3 cup).
- Add the cooked salmon and your prepared toppings to your poke bowl, then drizzle with the spicy mayo and sesame soy dressing.
- Sprinkle with the spring onions or sesame seeds.
- Enjoy!
Judee
Wow! I’m in awe! Your salad bowl looks so inviting, colorful, and healthy. I can only imagine how good it tasted.
angiesrecipes
So colourful and loaded with good stuff 🙂 I am drooling over the salmon. Gotta try that IP version.
Harvinder
This looks great 👌
Jeff the Chef
I love your toppings – especially the cucumber, edamame, mango, and squash. Thanks for the recipe!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your salmon poke bowl looks so tasty fun… and your sesame soy dressing recipe is absolutely divine!
laura
We love a good poke bowl here, too! You’ve inspired me to give this a try! Thanks, Balvinder!
Maria
I love all the sauce suggestions! And addition of mango and cabbage in the bowl for contrasting textures.
Indrani sen
Looks like a rainbow of colors on a plate. Drooling at the fish drenched in sesame and say dressing
John / Kitchen Riffs
Terrific dish — so much flavor and color, and great textures. Plus it’s easy! Poke bowls are fun, aren’t they? Thanks for this.
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
This looks like such a hearty and healthy poke bowl! Love all the veggies! Yum!