Ahi Poke

We’re doing something a bit different to celebrate lunar New Year 2022. According to Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Tiger begins on February 1st. Those born under the sign of the Tiger (1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022) are said to be brave, confident and natural leaders. Although we don’t have any Asian heritage in our genealogy, we enjoy celebrating along with the billions of others who ring in the new year. Instead of making a multi-course Chinese meal, we decided to lighten it up a bit this year by having a poke bowl for dinner.

Pronounced “poe-kay”, the Hawaiian word means “to slice” or “cut crosswise into pieces.” At its most basic, poke is diced raw fish and vegetables served over sticky rice. Its flavors have a definite Japanese influence. Poke is different from other raw fish dishes such as ceviche as it does not use citrus as a curing agent.

I make ahi poke by marinating chunks of ahi tuna with the same ingredients I use for tuna tartare - soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, ginger and garlic. It’s an easy recipe and extremely flavorful.

I serve it in inexpensive beautifully decorated individual bowls with Asian motifs that I purchased at TJ Maxx. Our poke bowl has a layer of seasoned sticky rice topped with the ahi tuna, edamame, thinly sliced cucumbers and radishes, sliced avocado and julienned carrots.

The trick to a beautiful and appetizing poke bowl is to not mix the ingredients - place them on top of the rice in their own little colorful piles. I top it with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and scallions and a drizzle of sriracha aioli. Poke should be eaten with chopsticks, taking time to savor each ingredient.

AHI POKI
(Serves 2)

For the tuna:
6 ounces sushi/sashimi grade ahi tuna, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the rice:
2 cups short grained Japanese sushi rice
3 cups water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Optional: rice cooker

For the bowl:
1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
1/2 cup shelled edamame
1/2 cup julienned carrots
2 radishes thinly sliced (red or colorful watermelon radishes)
1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1 scallions, green part only thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli, for serving

Combine all the ingredients for the ahi tuna in a small bowl and let it marinate for about 30 minutes.

While the tuna is marinating, prepare the sticky rice. It’s easiest to use a rice cooker but any medium saucepan would work just fine. Put the raw rice into a fine mesh sieve and rinse the rice under cold water, mixing it with your hand. You should continue rinsing until the water is no longer cloudy and runs clear.

Place the rice and cups of water in the rice cooker or pot and cook for 15-20 minutes until tender. Let the rice sit for 5 minutes to cool a bit then gently fold in the rice vinegar.

To serve, place half of the sticky rice in each large individual bowl, drain the ahi tuna and arrange it in the center of the rice. Artfully place the cucumbers, edamame, radishes, carrots and avocado around the tuna then top with some scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with a little bowl of the sriracha aioli as dressing on the side.

Here are some variations for composing your own favorite poke bowl recipes:

RICE: Sushi/sashimi glutinous sticky rice; brown rice; black rice

PROTEIN: Sushi grade ahi tuna; salmon; scallops; tofu; cooked crab meat; cooked shrimp

VEGETABLES: Cucumbers; carrots; radishes; daikon radish; avocado; edamame; steamed green beans; broccoli or cauliflower florets; shredded red cabbage; shaved red onion

TOPPINGS: Sesame seeds; pickled ginger; seaweed salad; sea vegetables; sliced pickled beets; caviar; furitake (Japanese seaweed rice seasoning); sprouts; kimchi; poached or soft boiled egg. You can even sweeten it up a bit with some diced mango, lychees, mandarins orange slices or raspberries or even add some crunch with salted nuts or crispy onion rings.

DRESSING: Sriracha aioli; wasabi mayo; eel sauce; ponzu sauce; shoyu sauce; sweet chili sauce.