Poke Sushi Bowls 4 Ways

by Sonja | Feb 29, 2024 | Dinner, Mains, Protein, Recipes

Poke Sushi Bowls 4 Ways, all delicious and easy to make. This might be my favourite new dinner when I’m craving Sushi, which is often, but don’t want the fuss of rolling and forming. Instead they all come in form of a cosy bowl that you can customize to your exact preferences.
Use rice or buckwheat as base, top with fresh or pickled veggies and fruit, chose your protein or vegan tuna to top and you have dinner ready for the whole week.

Why You Will Love This

Delicious as Sushi but Without the Fuss

Have you ever had an irresistible craving for Sushi, but no restaurant or takeaway nearby and you really couldn’t be bothered with all the shaping and rolling? Then this recipe is for you. It does away with the fuss and only leaves the enjoyment of a nutritious bowl with all the flavours you love.

Poke at Home

Have you heard about Poke Bowls? I bet you have. And they always look so tempting, don’t they? Yeah, I think so too.

If you haven’t: Poke is essentially a Hawaiian dish made from raw fish that is tossed in sauce and eaten as snack or main dish. The most common seasonings include soy sauce, sesame oil, mayo, sriracha and spring onions. You can vary it endlessly to make it your own.
I have added fresh ginger and rice vinegar in my sauce, as I just love how it reminds me of sushi and transforms the flavour of the fish.

Typically Poke is just the raw fish in its sauce, but over the years these mixed bowls have become a rather stunning fusion dish, likely stemming from a mix of Korean bibimbap mixed with the Hawaiian Poke. Personally I’m a big fan of fusion kitchen, since it takes and combines the best parts of different kitchens and creates something new.

So in that tradition of mixing styles, I took ingredients that are commonly used in Sushi, where the fish is served simply raw and unmarinated, and combined it with the Poke tradition of mixing it with different flavours and sauces.

Versatile Toppings

I’m giving you 4 different options here, mainly differentiated by their protein or rather topping I should say, as one of them tastes like tuna, but is not a protein, but watermelon.

Tofu is another great topping, which you can even make in the air fryer.

And of course the two classics, both very easy to source: Salmon and Prawns.

It also comes with a range of pretty impressive health benefits, among them being high fibre, magnesium, and vitamin B content, making it a great alternative grain.
Mind you: Even though it’s name has “wheat” in it, it’s not related to wheat grain and contains no gluten.

Dressings

Three different dressings are given below, all take just minutes to assemble. Choose one or make several, to vary your bowls over the week.

We have an Asian Soy-Ginger-Lime dressing that doubles as marinade for tofu or Salmon, a Sriracha Mayo and a Wasabi mayo.

Wait, did you say Watermelon Tuna?

Watermelon? Seriously? That is sweet I hear you say. And you’d be right of course. But the simple process of marinating it with soy sauce, sesame oil and nori, then baking it and marinating once more, gives it both texture and flavour that is as close to raw tuna as I have ever experienced.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t invent this method and could not figure out who did unfortunately, as I’d love to give credit to this genius idea! But I found a variety of different recipes and picked my favourite while varying it slightly to suit my preferences.
The one I started from was by “Chef Studio”, showing a very easy way to make your own.

While they use the leftover marinade as it is for the second time marinating, I decided to boil mine down, to get rid of the unnecessary water from the melon that gathered in it from the first round of marinating, resulting in a more intense flavour and less watering down what we just cooked out in the oven.

2 Choices of Grains for the Base

As a base I’m using sushi rice in 3 of the bowls and cooked buckwheat in the last. While I love rice, the buckwheat has a nuttier flavour and can be prepared very similar to rice and essentially tastes like sushi rice, if you mix it with sushi seasoning.

Veggies and Fruits

As usual in my main dishes I prepare for the week, I use as many different fruits and vegetables as I can possibly fit on top of the bowl.

In this case I used partially my Quick Pickled Vegetables, a longtime favourite on my blog and partially raw. I just love the crunch and acidity you get from pickling and the zing this option lends to the grains. They are super quick to make too.

But if you aren’t a fan of pickles or just don’t feel like pickling, feel free to use raw ones. A soy or mayo- sriracha sauce on the side with add plenty of flavour to your bowl.

I know I’m walking the line with the fruits. They seem to be the marmite of the bowl and salad world. But personally I very much enjoyed both mango and fresh pineapple on these bowls. Leave them out if you don’t. Your bowl, your topping choice. That’s the beauty of them.

Note on the long Ingredients List

Since I made 4 different bowls and wildly mixed the toppings during the week, the list is fairly long.

But if you are not as decision adverse as I am, when it comes to the variety of what you’ll eat during the week, you can very easily par it down to a pretty short list. Simply pick one base, one sauce, one protein and some of your favourite toppings and you are set.

Ingredients

As usual, I’m stating just a few key ingredients here and why I used them. Please refer to the recipe for the full list.

The Grain Base

Sushi rice is certainly the easiest to find and likely the most familiar tasting if you are going for the typical flavour profile.

But if you feel a tiny bit more adventurous or just want to add more fibre to your diet, try out buckwheat groats. Ideally in form of Kasha, which is the toasted variant.
While you can toast your own, I felt during my tries that it’s never as even as the pre-toasted version and tends to get a bit mushy. It will still taste great but might not look as pretty.

At the time of making these bowls, I only had raw buckwheat groats, so that’s what I used.

Other great base options are cauliflower rice, brown rice or even couscous, which are easy to prepare and taste great with the sushi seasoning.

The Protein

Salmon or prawns – Use the freshest products you can find. Ideally from a fishmonger you can tell you if your fish is fresh enough to be eaten raw.
I took a bit of a risk with mine, buying a packet of super fresh looking salmon and prawns from Tesco, that had 6 days left on their “use by” date, which seemed good enough to me. Please carefully check the date before you buy and once you open it, smell it. It should smell like fresh seawater with a hint of salmon/prawn. If it smells in any way bad, do not use it.

Tofu

I used extra firm Tofu from the Tofoo co., which is readily available at Tesco here and tastes lovely.

Watermelon

Now, while watermelon is obviously not a protein, I’m listing it here as it will act like our tuna.
While you’d usually go for the sweetest and ripest melon you can find, if you are eating it raw, that would be counterproductive for this use.
Instead try to get one that is under ripe, as it will be less sweet and have fewer black seeds. They are also usually a bit on the firmer fleshed side, which is exactly what we want for the tuna-like texture.

Nori

This is what puts the “tuna” into the watermelon. You can find nori sheets for sushi in pretty much every supermarket these days. Just cut one piece into tiny snippets using scissors. Don’t leave this out, as it’s the essential ingredient.

Vegetables

The options are endless here. Think Sushi and Asian bowls and go from there. You can use whatever you enjoy in your bowl.

I used some of my favourites which included

– Red cabbage
– Carrots
– Cucumber
– Mini sweetcorn
– Radishes
– Avocados
– Spring onions

Apart from the avocado and spring onions, I had pickled and fresh versions of them all and found both delicious.

You could also use edamame beans (which are near impossible to get here), fresh peas, pickled onions, daikon radish, seaweed, micro greens, red peppers, or zucchini.

Fruit

Going with the Hawaiian theme from the Poke, I added fresh mango and pineapple to some of the bowls and absolutely loved the sweet freshness they brought to the party. If you are a pineapple pizza hater, maybe leave them out.

Sauce

My personal favourite was a sauce I mixed from soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, lime juice, honey, and ginger. It felt closest to the Poke Sushi theme I was going for.
I used it to marinade the salmon and tofu and to drizzle over the finished bowls. So if you go with one of those 2 toppings, make double.

A note on soy sauce: I prefer Tamari or reduced salt soy sauce, especially from Kikkoman. If you are using Chinese dark soy sauce, you might have to adjust the amount, as it’s very salty.

If you like a creamier and hot version, a simple mix of sriracha, mayonnaise, lime juice and honey will be lovely.

Or swap the sriracha for wasabi, to add a different type of heat. I mixed 0% fat greek yoghurt into both, as I wanted a lighter dressing.

Other Toppings

No bowl is complete without fun additions that make it really sing.
In this case I went with pickled sushi ginger, black and white sesame, and optional wasabi.

FAQ

Sushi Seasoning

No sushi seasoning? No problem. Just make your own.
Mix 1 cup rice vinegar, ¼ + 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp salt and whisk until sugar and salt have dissolved.

Are Poke Sushi bowls healthy?

They absolutely can be. Combining a source of carbs, protein and a variety of different vegetables gives your body all the nutrients it needs and keeps your gut bacteria happy.
I love to add at least 5 different veggies and some fruit to my main meal and these Poke Sushi Bowls are now exception. Basically you get all your 5-a-day in one irresistible dish.

But what about raw fish?

As long as you make sure to use really fresh fish, it’s perfectly healthy and eaten in Japan and Hawaii on a regular basis.
However, if you are unsure or have a compromised immune system (I do due to my arthritis drugs, but never had any issues), you could use smoked salmon for example or one of the other toppings. No danger in the watermelon “tuna” for sure.

Also both prawns and salmon have lime in their marinade, which partially “cooks” them via the acid.

But I hate fish!

I get you, I really do. I have a weird, deep dislike for any fish that is not deep fried. Unless it’s raw.
Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But fresh, raw fish tastes a lot less “fishy” than cooked fish of any sort. And the texture and flavour are more like a really tender filet steak (properly cooked that is, medium/raw).
So if you want to enjoy the benefits of fish, especially oily ones like salmon, with all their protein and omega 3, but hate most cooked variants, you might want to give this a go. It’s my absolute favourite way to eat it!

The Process

This part will look fairly long, as I’m covering the different bases and toppings. Simply skip to the bits you’d like to use in your bowl.

Quick Pickles Vegetables

If you decide to pickle your veggies, do that first by following my recipe for it. It just takes a few minutes to make and lasts for over a week in the fridge. So you’ll have crunchy pickled veggies for all kinds of dishes and cravings.

FreshVegetables

Slice and chop your vegetables of choice into bite sized pieces. Store in separate containers, to assemble later.

Watermelon “Tuna”

While the watermelon “tuna” isn’t a lot of work, it does take a while due to the marinating and baking time. So ideally prepare it the day before.

Cut the skin off your watermelon and cube it into about 1in pieces and drop them into a large freezer bag. They will shrink quite a bit as they bake.

Mix all remaining ingredients except the rice vinegar and pour over the melon pieces. Close the bag and shake, to distribute them and cover every bit of melon. In a box or deep dish, where the bag can lay relatively flat, so the cubes are in one layer, store in the fridge to allow to marinate for at least 6h or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once ready to bake, carefully pour the now watered down marinade through a sieve into a small cooking pot. We will boil this down to concentrate the flavours while the watermelon bakes.

Distribute the marinated cubes on the parchment lined baking sheet, so they are in one layer, ideally with a tiny bit of space in between them.

Bake for 1- 1.5h, turning them carefully once, until their texture resembles raw tuna. Try one and see if it needs a little longer if in doubt. They should already be delicious.

While that is baking, reduce the marinade by boiling it rapidly until you have about ½ cup left. Add the rice vinegar and leave to cool.

Once your “tuna” is baked, transfer to a heat proof bowl and drizzle over the marinade. Leave in the fridge for at least 1h, up to 5 days. The longer you leave it, the more intense the flavour will be.

Tofu

This is next on the list of “takes a while, but is very easy”, as tofu has to be pressed, to remove some of the water content and then marinated to flavour it.

Start by pressing your tofu. You can do this by simply wrapping it into a clean, dry kitchen towel, putting it between 2 wooden boards or trays and putting something heavy on them to weigh it down. Or, if you’d rather have a less precarious version, get a tofu press like this.
Whichever method you use, leave for at least 1h. Overnight is fine too.

Pour away the liquid that has gathered and cut your block of tofu into about ½ in cubes. Transfer to a bowl or freezer bag for marinating.

Mix the soy dressing/marinade ingredients together and pour one portion over your tofu cubes. Leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 1h or longer.

While your rice is cooking, fry your tofu cubes until golden brown. You can do this in a pan, with a little oil, or in the air fryer.

To air fry, preheat your air fryer to 400°F/200°C-
Spray the cooking basket with a little cooking oil. Lay out the tofu cubes in one layer (depending on your air fryer, you may have to do this in batches) and cook for 9 minutes. Slide out the basket, toss the cubes, then cook for another 2-4 until golden brown and delicious.

Salmon

Remove any bones and skin from your salmon. Cut into bite sized cubes (about ½ in). Transfer to a freezer bag or lidded container.

Mix the soy dressing/marinade ingredients together and pour one portion of it over the salmon cubes, turning them to make sure they all have marinade on them. They don’t need to be fully submerged.

Marinade for about 30min-1h. Serve raw. It will be slightly “cooked” by the marinade.

Prawns

Wash your prawns and pat dry with paper towels. Transfer to a bowl with a lid or freezer bag.

Mix the juice of the limes, salt and ginger and pour over your prawns. Leave to marinade for about 30min to 1h. Serve raw. They will be slightly “cooked” by the marinade.

Sriracha/Wasabi Mayo

In a small bowl, stir all ingredients together until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Sushi Rice

Rinse the rice under cold running water. Transfer to a saucepan. Add the water and salt, then bring to a boil. Stir, cover, lower the heat to the minimum, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the water is fully absorbed. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for 15 minutes.

Stir in sushi seasoning until well distributed.

Buckwheat Groats

If not toasted, quickly toast it on a dry skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until golden brown.

Stir in the buckwheat into boiled water and cover saucepan with lid. Bring back to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the water is absorbed, 13-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let the buckwheat rest covered for 10 minutes.
Stir in the sushi seasoning. Fluff with a fork.

For a more detailed recipe including troubleshooting tips for Buckwheat Groats, have a look at this one from “Olga in the Kitchen“.

Assembly

Build your bowls starting with your carb of choice. Add about ½ cup of rice or buckwheat to your bowl. Top with your vegetables and/or fruit, then your protein or Watermelon “tuna”.

Drizzle with dressing of your choice. Decorate with sesame seeds, pickled ginger and, if you like, extra wasabi.

Dig into your stunning and addictive Poke Sushi Bowls, gratulate yourself for your fantastic food choices.

Meal Prep

Everything in these bowls can be prepared in advance, though for the raw fish options, I would recommend eating them the same day or latest the next day if your fish was very fresh.

Store every ingredient in separate lidded containers in the fridge, to keep it from going soggy and assemble when you are ready to eat.

These bowls also make a fantastic work lunch, if you assemble in the evening and just grab one from the fridge in the morning. The tofu and watermelon “tuna” will both keep for 4-5 days.

Please Leave a Comment

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.

For other Asian inspired recipes take a look at these:

Chinese Duck Pancake Salad with Plum Dressing

Pork Banh Mi

Vegan Tom Kha Soup

Poke Sushi Bowls 4 Ways

Poke Sushi Bowls 4 Ways, all delicious and easy to make. This might be my favourite new dinner when I’m craving Sushi, which is often, but don’t want the fuss of rolling and forming. Instead they all come in form of a cosy bowl that you can customize to your exact preferences. Use rice or buckwheat as base, top with fresh or pickled veggies and fruit, chose your protein or vegan tuna to top and you have dinner ready for the whole week.

5 from 25 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Resting/Marinating time, depending on topping 1 day d

Total Time 1 day d 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Fusion

Servings 6

Calories 350 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Vegetables of choice, pickled or fresh

I used:

• ¼ head red cabbage sliced
• ½ lb Radishes sliced
• 1 cucumber sliced
• 3 carrots julienned
• ½ lb mini sweetcorn halved
• 2 avocados sliced
• 1 mango cubed
• 1 pineapple cut into chunks

Protein/ “Fish Like” topping of choice:

• 1 lb salmon very fresh – Soy, sesame, rice vinegar marinated

or

• 1 lb shrimps very fresh

or

• 1 lb extra firm tofu

or

• Watermelon “Tuna”

Watermelon “Tuna”

• 1500 g watermelon seeded & peeled (about 1 medium melon) chopped into about 1in cubes
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp neutral oil such as grapeseed
• ¼ cup tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• 1 sheet nori cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

Marinade/Dressing

Make double if you are topping your bowl with Salmon or Tofu

• 3 tbsp Shoyu or soy sauce Tamari or soy
• 3 tbsp lime juice about 2 limes
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp Ginger grated
• 2 spring onions sliced to top after marinating

Prawn Marinade

• 4 limes zest of 1, juiced
• 2 tsp ginger grated
• ½ tsp kosher salt or more to taste
• 2 spring onions sliced to top after marinating

Wasabi-Mayo

• 2 tbsp Mayo
• 2 tbsp 0% fat Greek yoghurt
• ½ lime juice and zest
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ - 1 tsp Wasabi

Or

Sriracha Mayo

• 3 tbsp Mayo
• 3 tbsp 0% fat Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp Sriracha
• ½ lime juice
• 1 tsp Honey

Sushi Rice

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 1½ cups water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sushi seasoning

Or

Buckwheat Groats

• 1 cup buckwheat toast, rinse
• 1 ½ water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sushi seasoning

Instructions

 

Quick Pickled Vegetables:

• If opting for pickled veggies, prepare them using the recipe provided above in the post. This step is quick and can be done ahead, offering crunchy pickled vegetables for various dishes.

Vegetables Fresh:

• Slice and chop your choice of vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Store them separately to assemble later.

Watermelon "Tuna":

• Prepare the watermelon "tuna" a day in advance for optimal flavor.
• Remove the skin from the watermelon and cube it into 1-inch pieces. Place them in a large freezer bag.
• Mix all remaining ingredients except rice vinegar and pour over the watermelon. Seal the bag and shake to coat evenly. Refrigerate in a flat container for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Strain the marinade into a pot and boil it to concentrate flavors while the watermelon bakes.
• Arrange marinated watermelon cubes on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 1-1.5 hours, turning once, until the texture resembles raw tuna. Adjust the baking time if needed.
• Reduce the strained marinade, add rice vinegar, and let it cool. Drizzle over the baked watermelon "tuna" and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 5 days.

Tofu:

• Press tofu between two boards or trays with weights on top for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Discard the accumulated liquid and cut tofu into ½-inch cubes.
• Marinate in a mixture of soy dressing for at least 1 hour.
• Fry the marinated tofu until golden brown in a pan with oil or in an air fryer preheated to 400°F/200°C for 9 minutes, toss, then fry for another 2-4 minutes until golden brown.

Salmon:

• Remove bones and skin from salmon, then cut into bite-sized cubes. Marinate in soy dressing for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Prawns:

• Wash and pat dry prawns, then marinate in lime juice, salt, and ginger for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Sriracha/Wasabi Mayo:

• Mix all ingredients until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Sushi Rice:

• Rinse sushi rice, then cook with water and salt for 15-20min until fully absorbed. Let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in sushi seasoning.

Buckwheat Groats:

• Toast buckwheat on a dry skillet until golden brown if not already toasted.
• Cook buckwheat in boiled water for 13-15 minutes until tender, then let it rest covered for 10 minutes. Stir in sushi seasoning.

Assembly:

• Start with a base of rice or buckwheat in each bowl.
• Top with fresh vegetables/fruits, protein (tofu, salmon, shrimp, or watermelon "tuna").
• Drizzle with desired dressing and garnish with sesame seeds and pickled ginger.
• Enjoy your vibrant and flavorful Poke Sushi Bowls!

Notes

Please note: For this particular recipe, as there are so many variables, I'm not giving specific nutrition calculation, but rather an average for the sushi bowls as I made them. This will vary depending on the sauce, protein, grain and vegetables you are using, so it's just a very rough estimate.

Similar for the cooking and preparation time.
The 2 days resting and 2h cooking are for the Watermelon "Tuna", which simply needs a while to take on the flavor. But it's very little hands on work.

The average hands on work would be around 45min plus cooking and marinating time for rice/Protein.

Everything in these bowls can be prepared in advance, though for the raw fish options, I would recommend eating them the same day or latest the next day if your fish was very fresh.

Store every ingredient in separate lidded containers in the fridge, to keep it from going soggy and assemble when you are ready to eat.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal

Nutrition Facts

Poke Sushi Bowls 4 Ways

Amount per Serving

Calories

350

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword For Guests, Healthy, High Fibre, meal prep, Protein, vegan, Vegetarian, versatile

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