Poke Bowl, the raw fish dish from Hawaii, has the hearts of theSushi-Fansconquered worldwide. With good reason, because it is healthy, filling and can be varied as desired. We will give you an overview of the different preparation techniques and explain how you can make a poke bowl with sauce yourself.
Poke Bowl Recipe: How is the Hawaiian dish prepared?
The word “poke” literally translates to “cut into pieces.” The poke bowl is a Hawaiian dish that combines cooking techniques from Japan and the USA. In its home country, poke was originally prepared as a salad made from raw fish and vegetables. The raw fish was not acidified, but rather seasoned with a sauce. The fish pieces were served with local fruits such as kukui, avocado and seeds.
Nowadays poke bowl is considered a dishprepared with riceand is an alternative to sushi. The delicacy is very popular in the USA and has recently been gaining popularity in Europe. The dish is very easy to prepare. Even inexperienced hobby chefs can prepare the poke bowl without any problems. These ingredients go into the bowl:
- Reis.Rice varieties are well suited for sushi, such as Japanese short-grain rice. The jasmine rice also has the desired consistency and can be used as a substitute. Another alternative is rice pudding, which is also sticky due to its high starch content. Immediately after cooking, the rice is seasoned with a spice mix for sushi or with rice vinegar, which gives it its slightly sour taste. It is served warm. If you want to vary the basic recipe, you can also cook rice noodles.
- Rohfisch.A poke bowl is usually made with raw ahi tuna (ahi comes from Hawaiian and means yellowfin tuna), salmon or redsnapper (a fish from the North Pacific region). Other fish species such as sea bass are also suitable. The raw fish should definitely be very fresh. However, if you don't want to risk it with raw fish, choose fried tuna as an alternative. There are many recipes with marinated and grilled fish too.
- seafoodOf course you can also add it. A poke bowl is never made with raw seafood, but only with cooked seafoodVietnamese summer rollsprepared.
- There is now one tooAlternative for vegans, in which tofu is used as a substitute for raw fish. Vegan fish fingers made from soy proteins are sold in supermarkets. In specialized stores you can also find crispy vegan squid rings that look deceptively real and taste like the sea.
- Vegetables.Which vegetables go into the poke bowl is up to your creativity. For example, spring onions, radishes, cabbage, avocado and cucumbers go well with raw fish and rice. The vegetables are cut very precisely because great importance is attached to a beautifully presented plate.
- Nuts and seeds.Crunchy macadamia, kukui nuts and cashews complete the poke bowl and taste really good with the rice and raw fish.
- Poke bowl sauce.Traditionally, the dressing is made from salty sauces such as shoyu, ponzu or even black bean paste. Such a salty poke sauce highlights the taste of the raw fish very well and is therefore very popular in Asia. In Europe and North America, however, the dish is drizzled with a spicy poke sauce. There are many variations in this regard too. But beginners can mix soy sauce with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, lime juice and Sriracha. Another combination that Europeans like very much is ginger, Sriracha, rice wine vinegar, tamari sauce and maple syrup. At the bottom of the article we offer several ideas for sauce and marinade.
Make your own poke bowl: the basic recipe
A poke bowl is a quick and easy dishperfect for the summer months. It is prepared in just a few steps:
- First mix all the ingredients for the marinade.
- Let the fish marinate for half an hour and take it out of the fridge the next day, cut it into small pieces and fry or grill it if desired. You can also serve the marinated fish raw, but you should make sure it is really fresh. If you want to prepare a vegetarian alternative, marinating can be omitted. Instead, fry tofu bites or vegan squid rings in sesame oil.
- Wash the rice thoroughly with cold water until the water runs clear. Put the rice in a clean pot and let it soak for half an hour. Then cook over medium heat according to the manufacturer's instructions on the package. Do not stir the rice. If you are making rice noodles, you should first soak them in warm water for 10 minutes.
- Put four tablespoons of vinegar with a teaspoon of sugar and 4 pinches of salt in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 to 10 minutes until a homogeneous sauce forms. Remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool. Then season the rice with it.
- Place 5 tablespoons of rice in a bowl and garnish with the marinated fish.
- Wash and clean vegetables, peel them and cut them into pieces or slices. Try to experiment with shapes and colors. You can dice the cucumber, cut the avocado into wedges, cut the cabbage into strips, and slice vegetables like radishes or scallions. Fresh carrots, which you can cut into sticks, also go perfectly with this.
- Garnish the dish with the vegetables and nuts of your choice.
Poke Bowl Sauce Recipes
How exactly a poke bowl tastes depends heavily on theMarinade or sauceaway. Below we offer you several recipe ideas for exotic and delicious sauces and marinades and explain which fish and vegetables go with them.
Poke bowl marinade with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and Sriracha
The next marinade goes really well with the ahi tuna. These are the necessary ingredients for a marinade for 500 g of ahi tuna:
- 1/4 cup red onions, chopped
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 tsp cashew nuts, roasted, unsalted, chopped
- 1 red chili pepper
- 3 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 TL Sriracha
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
For the marinade, simply put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Turn the fish in the marinade two or three times and then chill for 30 minutes.
Spicy poke bowl sauce for salmon
If you want to make the delicious Hawaiian dish with salmon, then you can try using a traditional marinade and then top it with a spicy sauce. You need 500g salmon fillet, jasmine rice and vegetables of your choice.
For the marinade:
- 60 ml soy or tamari sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl and use them to marinate the fish.
For the sauce:
- 120ml water
- 120 ml rice wine vinegar
- 80 g Honig
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 small gherkin
Then add to another bowl:
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (made from 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha and 1/2 teaspoon yogurt)
Put the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Wash, peel and dice the cucumber. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cucumber. Allow to cool at room temperature for ten minutes, then cover with cling film and refrigerate. Place the marinated fish on cooked sushi rice, garnish with vegetables of your choice and drizzle with the spicy sauce and then the Sriracha sauce.
Hawaiian recipe with aioli sauce and honey dressing
The next recipe comes from Hawaii and combines aioliSauce with honeyDressing. You can serve redsnapper fish with it. Vegetables such as avocado, garlic, spring onions, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, jalapeno peppers, radishes and fruits such as mango, tangerine and pineapple go well with it.
For the honey dressing you need the following ingredients:
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 EL Reisweinessig
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 20 g Honig
- 10 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
Simply combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and warm over low heat until the honey dissolves. Then take the sauce off the heat and let it cool. Then place the cooled sauce in the refrigerator for half an hour.
For the aioli sauce, mix mayonnaise and Sriracha in a ratio of 1:1. This sauce is also ideal for seasoning tuna, hamburgers, rolls with baked cheese, fries and salads.
Other possible variations:
- Marinade for tuna: 1 tbsp Japanese ponzu sauce, 1/2 tsp wasabi paste and 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Dressing for Poke Bowl with Avocado and Salmon: 4 teaspoons soy sauce, 4 teaspoons sesame oil, 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1 teaspoon mustard and 1/2 teaspoon honey.
Which drinks go with the Poke Bowl?
What the family drinks with the poke bowl is actually a matter of taste. However, there are some drinks that intensify the taste of the dish and therefore prove to be the perfect accompaniment to the Hawaiian dish. We list some suggestions for drinks that go well with raw fish, rice and vegetables.
- Green tea is neutral and can really highlight the flavor of the Hawaiian dish. Traditionally the tea is served hot, but in the summer months you can let it cool if you wish. However, never put green tea in the refrigerator.
- If you have invited guests over for dinner, you can serve a typical Japanese drink with the poke bowl. It is best to first let the rice wine sake cool down in the refrigerator for half an hour.
- You can also serve light lager with a sweet, grainy flavor with fried fish or tofu bites.
- For wine lovers, there are dry, sparkling white wines such as Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. However, you can also serve red wine with fatty fish such as salmon.
- Homemade lemonade with lemons also goes well with raw fish dishes and sushi. You can serve this drink chilled.
Poke Bowl is a delicious raw fish dish that can be garnished as desired. Composed of sushi rice, raw fish and vegetables, the dish offers a change to the spring and summer menu. It also scores points for being easy to prepare since you only cook the rice. Let the recipe ideas inspire you. Maybe you'll find one that the whole family will enjoy.
