Hawaiian poke is a rice bowl topped with fresh fish and lots of fun toppings, like avocado! A super simple, light meal. Look for sushi-grade salmon when shopping.

Photography Credit: Lisa Lin

The first time I ever ate raw fish was when I was about ten or eleven years old. I was at a Japanese buffet, and my mother told me to eat only the expensive foods so we would get our money’s worth, which meant seafood and sashimi. Of course, I didn’t particularly enjoy raw fish, but being the dutiful daughter, I heeded her advice.

It wasn’t until I started eating poke bowls a few years ago that I warmed up to the idea of dishes with raw fish!

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What Is A Poke Bowl

A poke bowl (pronounced po-kay!) is a Hawaiian dish of diced fresh fish served on top of rice with plenty of extra fixings like avocado, radishes, and cucumbers.

The fish is usually tuna, but salmon and other sashimi-quality fish can be used as well. The diced fish gets tossed with a simple dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, which makes a nice compliment to the whole bowl.

Make sure to buy only very high quality salmon since you’ll be eating it raw. In Japanese supermarkets, fish is labeled “sashimi” when it’s safe to eat raw. Otherwise, ask your fishmonger about the quality of the fish.

Assembling Your Poke Bowl

Once you have your fish, the rest of the poke bowl comes together really quickly. Just cook some rice, toss the fish with the dressing, and serve! I like to place all the extra toppings on the table so that everyone can help themselves.

Here are some great toppings you can add:

Sliced cucumber

Sliced radish

Sliced or cubed avocado

Furikake

Thinly sliced scallions

Red pepper flakes

Eat Right Away!

Poke bowls are a fresh dish, meant to be eaten right away. Prepare all the components just before serving, and don’t plan on leftovers!

Making a Gluten-Free Poke Bowl

If you are looking for a gluten-free poke bowl, use tamari instead of soy sauce. Tamari has a more intense flavor, so I would use only 3 tablespoons of tamari for the sauce.

Also, because tamari has a much deeper color, the salmon pieces will not look as vibrant once they have been mixed with the dressing.

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