poke bowls with mare


I would like to dedicate this post and give a personal shout out to Mare, my best friend of 10 years but what seems like 26.

 

THINGS I LOVE TO DO WITH MARE:

  • drink iced coffee

  • be barefoot

  • blast Jason Mraz and Lady Gaga with the windows down

  • order bridges of sushi and finish the entire thing

  • go to Graeter’s directly after the massive bridge of sushi

  • wear our matching CIN hats religiously

  • order instagrammable food and take way too many pictures of it

  • try new recipes while drinking wine and wearing our matching aprons

  • ONE MILLION MORE THINGS that I’m not going to name because it would probably bore you

ANYWAYS, you get the gist. Mare and I have a blast together and I can always count on her to be down to try a new recipe, while also sitting through the photo shoot I have planned for whatever we’re cooking. ;)

 

Perfect example of this would be the Poke bowls we just made last week! They were DELICIOUS and I’m pretty sure we were both very over taking the photos within 5 minutes… all we wanted to do was eat!

I originally made these with my sister and brother-in-law who got the recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. (Thanks Holls and Curt!) Definitely a keeper, and one of the best tuna Poke bowls I have ever had!!

TUNA POKE BOWLS

serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups short-grain sushi rice

  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

  • 2 tablespoons dried hijiki (seaweed)

  • 3 tablespoons mirin, divided

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided

  • ½ teaspoon sesame seeds, plus more for serving

  • ¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • ¼ English hothouse cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, sliced crosswise into half-moons

  • 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced

  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

  • ¼ cup mixed fresh citrus juice (such as lime, lemon, and grapefruit)

  • 2 tablespoons white soy sauce or soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

  • ¼ cup mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)

  • ¾ pound highest-quality fresh tuna, cut into ½-inch pieces

  • 1 avocado, chopped

  • Tobiko (for serving; optional)


DIRECTIONS:

Rinse and drain rice in a fine-mesh sieve several times until water runs clear. Let sit 30 minutes.

Combine rice and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan, season lightly with salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover saucepan, and simmer until rice is tender, 18–22 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork; keep warm.

Meanwhile, soak hijiki in ½ cup cold water in a small bowl until rehydrated and softened, 30–35 minutes. Drain and mix in a clean small bowl with 1 Tbsp. mirin, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, and ½ tsp. sesame seeds; let sit 5 minutes. Drain.

Whisk vinegar, sugar, 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt, and 2 Tbsp. water in another small bowl. Toss cucumber with a pinch of salt in another bowl and squeeze to expel excess water. Add cucumber and jalapeño to brine and let sit at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour to pickle.

Soak scallions in a medium bowl of cold water until they begin to curl, about 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry.

Combine citrus juice, white soy sauce, oil, remaining 2 Tbsp. mirin, and remaining 2 Tbsp. soy sauce in another small bowl; set ponzu aside.

Whisk mayonnaise and chili paste in a final small bowl to combine; set spicy mayo aside.

Toss tuna, hijiki, drained pickles, scallions, and ponzu in a large bowl; season with salt.

Just before serving, toss avocado into tuna mixture. Divide rice among bowls and top with tuna mixture, a dollop of spicy mayo, more sesame seeds, and some tobiko, if using.

NOTES:

  • Mare and I couldn’t find sushi rice, so we just ended up using Arborio- still worked great.

  • We also couldn’t find Tobiko, but I’m sure it would have been great if we had it!

  • We only used regular soy sauce, no white soy sauce around.

  • For the hijiki, we just cut up strips of regular nori sheets. A few modifications but the recipe still turned out great!

read original recipe here.

Amy FieldsComment