Poke Bowl

Buy or find or make

You will need to buy or find ingredients for the rice, the sauce, the wasabi mayonnaise and the fillings.

For the Rice
Sushi rice, 400g
Rice vinegar, 3 tbs
Caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp

For the sauce
Japanese mayonnaise, 1/3 cup (Kewpie is a good brand and you may like to add more mayonnaise.)
Soy sauce, 1/2 tbs
Rice vinegar, 1 tsp (or 2 tsp lime juice)
Toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp (this is also referred to as black sesame oil and slightly less than a tsp is best.)
Caster sugar, 1 tsp
Dried ginger powder, 1/4 tsp
Wasabi paste, 1/4 tsp
Fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp, grated (a microplane is best for grating ginger and don’t skimp on the ginger, it is very important.)

For the wasabi mayonnaise
Japanese mayonnaise, 1/2 cup
Wasabi paste, 1/2 tsp

For the fillings
Bbq chicken, 1/2, finely shredded
Avocado, 2, diced
Carrot, 1 very thinly julienned
Red cabbage, 200g, very finely shredded (use a serrated knife to shred.)
Wombok cabbage, Red cabbage, 200g, very finely shredded (use a serrated knife to shred.)
Four egg omelette, thinly sliced after being cooked (fried in oil, with toasted shallots sprinkled over the omelete after it has cooked.) or ( with fried onion and chilli and curry powder.)
Bean sprouts, a handful
6 radishes, cut into matchsticks
Sesame seeds, 1 tbs, toasted
Toasted shallots, 2 tbs (buy these from the Asian section of the supermarket.)
Frozen edamame beans, 200g, defrosted and perhaps warmed a little
Red onion, 1, thinly sliced and macerated (to macerate, soak the onion in lime juice.)
Eggs, 4, hard boiled, peeled and sliced
Salmon steaks, 2
Sweet potato, 1, diced and roasted
Pickled ginger to taste
Marinated tofu, 200g marinated tofu, sliced into batons and fried on high heat until a little brown and crisp. Fry first to crisp up then cover to poach a little and soften and retain temperature. (Soyco is a good brand and is available at supermarkets),
Teriyaki chicken, 200g teriyaki chicken, fried until browned and crisp and then shredded
Tamari almonds, 1/4 cup, roughly chopped (some people find that these add too much crunch, tread carefully.)
Wasabi peas, 1/4 cup, roughly chopped (some people find that these add too much crunch, tread carefully.)
Ottolenghi vietnamese noodle salad if you have this on hand.

Do

You will need to cook the rice, prepare the sauce and mayonnaise as well as prepare and plate your fillings.

Cooking the rice

Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold water for about 30 seconds to rinse off the excess starch.

Pour the rice into a saucepan and add 2 1/4 cups of cold water. Stir and bring to the boil on high heat.

Place the lid on the saucepan when the water is boiling and turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on. (Make sure the heat is not so low that the rice is not simmering, the rice won’t cook properly if the water is not simmering. On the other hand, if the heat is too high, the rice will stick to the bottom of the saucepan.)

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to sit for 15 minutes with the lid on.

Combine the vinegar, caster sugar and salt in a bowl while the rice is cooking and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

Preparing the sauce

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in medium sized mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour into a serving bowl and place on the table with a serving spoon.

Preparing the mayonnaise

Combine all of the mayonnaise ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.

Spoon the rice into a serving bowl and keep warm with a lid or plate placed over the bowl. Place the rice on the table.

Bring all of the fillings to the table.

Serve by demonstrating to your guests how to assemble a poke bowl. (We like to mix the rice with the cabbage, then add the fillings that appeal and spoon over some of the sauce and mayonnaise.)

For a variation, try this with glass noodles, or even a Vietnamese glass noodle salad as one of the fillings.

We sometimes use cooked plain brown rice in place of the sushi rice.