Salmon Poke Bowl

May 19, 2017

Salmon Poke Bowl Recipe

I’ve never been a fan of fish for most of my life. As a child, when my siblings enjoyed their fish sticks, the smell of it deterred me. Therefore, I decided back then that I don’t like fish and that I won’t eat it any more. By the way, other than that, I wasn’t a picky person at all.

 

A couple of years ago, just before we moved to Cambridge, MA, David and I decided to do a trip around the world. At some point on our 9-month lasting travels, we ended up in French Polynesia. Picture turquoise and crystal clear water, white beaches, and colorful fishes. What am I saying: Picture paradise!

 

We stayed some time at a homestay on Fakarava, an atoll of the Tuamoto group. The problem was: Fish was the main food there. I figured that I would be happy to skip the main simply enjoying the side dishes. But: There were no sides.

 

Our hosts only spoke French and David and I had lost almost all of our 5-years of learning French knowledge (how is this possible?), so I was in a dilemma. Either I would appear extremely rude not eating the food they had put so much effort into preparing, or I would have to eat fish.

 
So, after 25 years of fish abstinence, I decided to do the latter. And oh boy, did I like it. So much, that on my third day on the Island, I ate raw fish Polynesia-style (poisson cru). This marks the beginning of my journey eating raw fish and I’ve been preparing it at home ever since.

Hawaiian Poke Bowls Recipe

Salmon poke bowls. Top: Salmon poke marinated in sriracha mayo, bottom: salmon poke marinated in shoyu sauce.

Poisson cru, ceviche, ahi poke, or Kinilaw (Phillippines) or however marinated raw fish may be called around the world: I love it all! You may understand now, how happy I was when I noticed the first poke places popping up half a year ago here in Boston. Yes, I now, California is always a few years ahead. But Boston is getting there. Slowly but for sure.

Salmon Spicy Mayo Poke Bowl Recipe

Salmon spicy mayo poke bowl.

The following recipe is a pictured step-by-step recipe, which I originally developed for the column that I am writing for a Viennese daily. I’ve included two sauces for marinating the fish, one with soy sauce and the other one with sriracha mayo. Originally, Hawaiian Ahi Poke is made with Ahi, which means yellowtail tuna. But since it is very hard to get fresh and sustainable tuna in Austria, I substituted salmon.

 

Step-by-step recipe for salmon poke

The following recipe is a pictured step-by-step recipe, which I originally developed for the column that I am writing for a Viennese daily. I’ve included two sauces for marinating the fish, one with soy sauce and the other one with sriracha mayo. Originally, Hawaiian Ahi Poke is made with Ahi, which means yellowtail tuna. But since it is very hard to get fresh and sustainable tuna in Austria, I substituted salmon.

Ingredients for Hawaiian Salmon Poke

Ingredients for a salmon poke bowl.

Ingredients for a salmon poke bowl.

Rice for Ahi Poke Bowl

Cook the rice.

Cook the rice and let it cool. I used long grain rice for this bowl but I also love to use sushi rice.

Sushi grade Samon for Poke Bowl

Cut the fish into cubes.

If you bought salmon with skin, remove it with a sharp knife. You can slice the fish easiest if you put it into the freezer for 1/2 hour to firm it up. Cut the fish into 3/4-inch (1.5 – 2 cm) cubes.

Shoyo marinade for Ahi Poke

Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion for the shoyu marinade.

 

For the shoyu marinade, mix soy sauce, sesame oil and green onion.

Spicy Mayo Marinade for Ahi Poke Recipe

Sriracha mayo for salmon poke.

For the spicy mayo marinade, mix mayonnaise, sriracha and salt until well combined.

In a bowl, combine the fish and one of the marinades above and fold until thoroughly mixed. If you want to use both marinades, half the amounts or double the amount of fish. Tightly cover the bowl with the marinated fish and prepare the rest of the ingredients. You can marinate the fish up to one day in advance and store it in the fridge, or use it immediately. I prefer it marinated for 1/2 hour.

Roasting sesame seeds for Ahi Poke Bowl

Toast sesame seeds.

Toast sesame seeds in a frying pan without oil over medium heat until the white sesame seeds take on some color (golden). Remove them from the pan (residual heat).

Shallots and Garlic for Ahi Poke Bowl

Slice shallots and garlic cloves.

Slice the shallots into fine rings and slice the garlic lengthwise.

Fried onion and garlic for Ahi Poke

Fry shallots and garlic.

Sautee them seperately in a small frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil until golden to light brown. If fried shallots and garlic turn too dark, they will taste bitter so keep an eye on them. Remove from pan and put them on a paper towel.

Avocado for Ahi Poke Bowl

Slice avocado.

Half the avocado, remove the pit and carefully remove the flesh with a spoon. Cube the avocado.

Salmon Poke Bowls Toppings and Marinades

Assemble the salmon poke bowls.

Gather all ingredients for assembling the bowls.

Salmon Poke Bowls with two marinades Recipe

Assembled poke bowls. Left: sriracha-mayo poke, right: shoyu poke bowl.

Assemble the poke bowls: First, add some rice to the bowl, followed by the marinated fish. Add avocado and the rest of the toppings (fried shallots and garlic, daikon cress) and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Salmon Poke Bowls Recipe

Left: sriracha-mayo poke, right: shoyu poke bowl.

Enjoy!

 

Salmon Poke Bowl

Yield: 3 bowls

Salmon Poke Bowl

Originally, Hawaiian Ahi Poke is made with Ahi, which means yellowtail tuna. But since it is often hard to get fresh and sustainable tuna, I substituted salmon. I’ve included two sauces for marinating the fish, one with soy sauce (shoyu) and the other one with sriracha mayo. If you can get your hands on seaweed salad, buy it. It’s a great addition to this bowl - as are chopped dry-roasted macadamia nuts.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz/340 g sushi-grade sustainable salmon, fresh or frozen (you can also use yellowfin tuna); add some weight if the salmon comes with skin
  • 6 oz/170 g rice of your choice (here: long grain)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (I used a mix of black and white seeds)
  • 1/2 to 1 avocado, depending on the size
  • 1-2 stalks of green onion
  • 2 shallots
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • Daikon cress (substitute with other types of microgreens or sprouts like alfalfa or watercress)
  • Spicy mayo marinade (for 12 oz/340 g fish)
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • Shoyu marinade (for 12 oz/340 g fish)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (Japanese is best)
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1.5-2 tablespoon green onion rings, finely sliced (use some of the white and green part)

Instructions

  1. Cook the rice and let it cool.
  2. If you bought salmon with skin, remove it with a sharp knife. You can slice the fish easiest if you put it into the freezer for 1/2 hour to firm it up. Cut the fish into 3/4-inch (1.5 - 2 cm) cubes.
  3. Marinades:
  4. Shoyu: Mix soy sauce, sesame oil and green onion.
  5. Spicy mayo: Mix mayonnaise, sriracha and salt until well combined.
  6. In a bowl, combine the fish and one of the marinades above and fold until thoroughly mixed. If you want to use both marinades, half the amounts or double the amount of fish. Tightly cover the bowl with the marinated fish and prepare the rest of the ingredients. You can marinate the fish up to one day in advance and store it in the fridge, or use it immediately. I prefer it marinated for 1/2 hour.
  7. Toast sesame seeds in a frying pan without oil over medium heat until the white sesame seeds take on some color (golden). Remove them from the pan (residual heat).
  8. Slice the shallots into fine rings and sautee them in a small frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil until golden to light brown. Remove from pan and put them on a paper towel.
  9. Slice the garlic lengthwise and fry in a pan until golden in color. Put the slices aside on a paper towel. If fried shallots and garlic turn too dark, they will taste bitter so keep an eye on them.
  10. Half the avocado, remove the pit and carefully remove the flesh with a spoon. Cube the avocado.
  11. Assemble the poke bowls: First, add some rice to the bowl, followed by the marinated fish. Add avocado and the rest of the toppings (fried shallots and garlic, daikon cress) and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!
https://www.lilvienna.com/salmon-poke-bowl/

 

Did you follow this recipe? You could share your result here. All you need to do is take a picture with your smartphone and send it to [email protected]

 

Salmon Poke Bowl was last modified: September 2nd, 2018 by Ursula

8 thoughts on “Salmon Poke Bowl

  1. Loren Winters

    It looks amazing! Quick question, but what is the best way to get fresh enough fish for the recipe? Thank you and I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Loren,
      Thanks so much for your comment ;-) I spent quite a while online to figure that out before I made this bowl. I ended up buying a sushi grade salmon (at whole foods). But I’ve read that once the fish was frozen for a certain amount of days below a certain amount of degrees, nothing harmful will survive. I honestly haven’t tried making this poke bowl with frozen salmon, but I will do so for sure the next time. So this is definitely no advice to do so as well, but like I said, I will try it the next time I’ll make this poke bowl. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  2. Adriana

    Ooh, this looks wonderful. I make poke tuna with frozen tuna from Trader Joe’s with excellent results.

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Adriana, Great to hear! A lot of people are curious about what kind of salmon to use.
      So far, I’ve always used sushi grade salmon from Whole Foods, but I am planning on using frozen salmon as well the next time I make a poke bowl. Ursula

      Reply
  3. Ping

    My sister makes it for me the salmon poke bowl since I’ve been visiting her. Thank you for the wonderfully written out step by step. It helps when I’ll be making it for myself!

    Reply

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