Tuna Poke Bowls
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Tuna poke is a traditional Hawaiian salad of raw tuna marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and onions. Here it’s served over sushi rice with your favorite toppings.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
Many years ago, after visiting our son at sleepaway camp during the summer, Michael and I spent a weekend at a a spa resort in the Poconos called The Lodge at Woodloch. I love all that Zen spa stuff, but Michael joked that the place was named “Woodloch” because they lock you in the woods with nothing to do and starve you with teeny-tiny portions. Spa cuisine: sooo not his thing. However, we both loved the resort’s take on tuna poke (pronounced po-kay), a traditional Hawaiian salad of marinated raw tuna with sushi rice and lots of toppings, so I came up with this similar version when we got home. The resort dish was served with fresh crispy-fried wontons; to keep things weeknight streamlined, I put potato chips on mine instead! They make a delicious (and easy) addition.
What you need To Make Tuna Poke Bowls
When selecting your tuna, be sure to get fresh sushi-grade yellowfin or bigeye tuna (both referred to as “ahi”), with a pink or reddish color. Locally (in the Washington, DC area), I’ve found fresh ahi tuna at Harris Teeter. Also, Whole Foods carries frozen yellowfin tuna that works nicely. Just be sure not to buy Albacore tuna, which is the white tuna used to make canned tuna fish.
How To Make Tuna Poke Bowls
To begin: In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil, honey, sambal oelek, ginger, and scallions.
Add the tuna and toss. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
To serve, scoop rice into bowls, top with tuna poke and desired toppings.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
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Tuna Poke Bowls
Tuna poke is a traditional Hawaiian salad of raw tuna marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and onions. Here it’s served over sushi rice with your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek (see note)
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger (see note)
- 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- 1 pound sushi-grade ahi tuna (such as yellowfin or big-eye tuna), diced into ¼ or ½-inch pieces
- 2 cups sushi rice, cooked according to package instructions (any other type of rice or grain can be substituted)
Optional Toppings
- Sliced avocado
- Sliced cucumber
- Edamame
- Pickled ginger
- Diced mango
- Potato chips or wonton crisps
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil, honey, sambal oelek, ginger, and scallions. Add the tuna and toss. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- To serve, scoop rice into bowls, top with tuna poke and desired toppings. You will have extra sauce for drizzling over the toppings; serve on the side.
- Note: Sambal Oelek can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. It is sometimes labeled Chile Garlic Sauce.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (Nutritional data does not include optional toppings -- 6 servings)
- Calories: 411
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 59 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Sodium: 943 mg
- Cholesterol: 29 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Wondering would this work with cooked (marinated) chicken? Or if I wanted to go meatless, can the marinade be served as just sauce? Thanks!
Yes and yes. Please LMK if you try it with either of these alternatives!
This would be great with grilled tofu for a meatless meal. And I think seared very rare beef would be another great option.
Delicious, easy and super fun! Three out of three of my kids gave this a thumbs up, so it’s going into regular rotation at our house. Another 5 star recipe! Thank you, Jenn!
My partner and I make poke bowls regularly and this is our go-to marinade. Quick and painless, not to mention extremely delicious.
Use caution with amount of soy sauce and amount of time you marinate it. If you marinate it for more than 30 minutes, soy sauce drowns out the taste of the tuna: less is more in this case.
This was so good! Marinade was great – make sure you have some extra for your finished bowl! We also made a spicy mayo with sriracha, mayo, and lemon juice! Such a healthy meal with good protein! Thank you again Jenn for another great recipe!
Jenn–this recipe really soothed our desire for some fresh poke here in the land-locked Denver area. While we can get fresh fish flown into our markets, it simply didn’t occur to me that it could be made so easily. Delicious results that are causing me to scan our favorite places for tuna, salmon, and scallops. Thank you so much for this recipe as well as some of your other well balanced, tasty dishes. You have such a good sense of flavors and textures!
I’ve never had poke but this looked interesting. I love ceviche so decided to try this. Jenn, you do not fail in great dishes. OMG! This was so good. I had it over brown rice with mango, avocado, pickled ginger and wonton strips. I added lime juice at the end. I got Ahi tuna from Aldi’s. Just so good! Thank you!!!!!!!
Great recipe, my wife wanted Poke for her birthday and we had never made it before. Came out phenomenal!
As for adding “crunch”, my wife does not like fried wonton crisps and wasn’t a fan of the thought of adding potato chips (she’s a bit of a health nut).
I found the solution in Costco… dehydrated fruit! Gave a great crunch, a burst of flavor, and they’re not fried so my wife loved them!
We told the kids they were “mango and apple croutons”. They ate them up!
The kids did teriyaki chicken for their poke, lest you think I have adventurous food kids. Alas, I do not. But they loved the poke bowls, they say it’s like an ice cream sundae bar for dinner. Poke is now on our regular dinner rotation. It will replace taco Tuesday at least once a month!
I recently made your zucchini pancakes with Greek Feta, served them with sour cream on top. They are so delicious and I’m going to make them for my kids and grandkids when they visit in a couple of months. Thank you 🙏
I made this for the first time for four of my family members and it was an absolute hit! I put it over coconut rice, and topped it with cucumber, edamame, sriracha mayo, sesame seeds and avocado.
AMAZING & AUTHENTIC!
Curious about using salmon instead of tuna – would that still be raw, grilled or seared?
I’m having guests and one doesn’t eat raw fish – her loss (and ours!) but I’d like to adjust the recipe for her.
Hi Bonnie, You could definitely try the recipe with raw, grilled, or seared salmon. If you cook it, I’d keep it medium-rare if that’s acceptable to your guest. Hope everyone enjoys!
I made this for our family & friends over the weekend and we all loved it! We had delicious fresh tuna from Maine and it was so clean and delicious! Jenn, I have your first cookbook and I was comparing the recipes. I liked that you added 1 teaspoon of lime juice to your original recipe so I added that into this recipe. Also, I love micro greens on top of the bowl. Thank you for your delicious recipes and your commitment to accuracy and perfection that goes into crafting them!
I’d like to make this for a casual dinner party but would like some ideas on what to serve with it? Can you please provide some suggestions?
Hi Andi, I’d probably do something fruity like the Peach Mango Smoothies, or the Stone Fruit Salad. You could also serve the Coconut Shrimp as an appetizer. Hope that helps!