This vegetarian take on a typical Hawaiian poke bowl is easy to prep and is full of flavor. This recipe is a great way to eat the rainbow!
What is Poke?
Poke means “to slice” and is a Hawaiian dish of diced raw fish like tuna. It’s often served over rice (thanks Wikipedia). In the past 10 years, poke bowls have made their way into mainstream American cuisine. This recipe in particular was inspired my my order at Poke Bar where I used to grab food pre-pandemic. If anything, this year has taught me I really don’t need to eat out. I can make what I’m craving at home!
Basic Ingredients for a Poke Bowl
We’re going to be making a vegetarian/vegan version of a poke bowl, so this recipe won’t contain any fish. Instead, we’ll be using edamame (or tofu) for our protein source. First off, you need a nice bed of rice. You can use brown rice, white rice, or even sushi rice if you want. When I’m assembling the bowl, I like to warm up my rice. Then everything else goes on top cold to get a nice temperature for the whole dish.
I like to mix up my main ingredients with chipotle mayo for some flavor. You can use vegan mayo if you want the dish to be egg free, or you can use other flavors like teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, or siracha. You don’t need to measure here. Just use the ingredients you like add add enough sauce to coat them. My main veggie mix includes:
- Shelled edamame
- Diced pineapple
- Sliced green onions
- Cilantro
- Ginger slices (for extra spice)
My favorite part of the poke bowl was the seaweed salad! The first time I tried it, I believe it was accidently marked as gluten free because often they are made with soy sauce. I hadn’t been able to find any that was gluten free until recently. Costco has a bag that’s gluten free! It’s basically just an umami bomb that adds a nice flavor to the overall bowl.
Building the Poke Bowl
My favorite part of getting a poke bowl for the first time was the presentation. Obviously, you food doesn’t have to be Instagram-level fancy to be delicious, but there is something self-indulgent about plating up a beautiful meal you made for yourself.
I begin with a scoop of rice at the bottom of the bowl. Then I mix up all my veggies with my sauce (chipotle mayo here) and add that next to the rice. Then the sides I have are some GF seaweed salad and some cucumber salad. Finally I top with sesame seeds. You could also add some furikake, pickled ginger, or avocado for even more flavor. If you want to check out another one of my favorite restaurant bowls I made at home, click here for my Yumm Bowl recipe.
Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Remove the ends from the cucumber and thinly slice the cucumber into rounds.
- Mix the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and sugar in a bowl. Add the cucumber rounds and mix to coat.
- Let sit for about 10 minutes for the flavors to absorb and sprinkle sesame seeds on top to serve.
- Drain off any excess liquid to store in the fridge.