Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl

This simple recipe for Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl features delicious marinated ahi tuna fish served with sticky sushi rice, topped with sliced cucumber, green onions and avocado.

Why you'll love this spicy tuna poke bowl recipe

Easy to make: the simplicity of ahi poke bowls lies in the quality and freshness of the tuna, marinated in a few ingredients to let it sing.

Delicious: letting the ahi tuna marinate lets the fish absorb all those flavors.

Gluten-free: this healthy dish is naturally gluten free and dairy-free. 

Easily customizable: you can add various toppings to make the spicy tuna bowls your own.

What is poke?

Poke (poh-keh) is a traditional Hawaiian dish consisting of marinated raw fish or seafood.

Traditionally, fishermen would take the raw off-cuts of fish and season it with various Asian/Japanese flavors such as soy, sesame, green onions, seaweed and eat it as a snack.

Octopus (he'e in Hawaiian or tako in Japanese) is also another common seafood ingredient used in poke preparation.

Ingredients you'll need

For the spicy tuna:

• ahi tuna: use sushi grade/sashimi grade ahi tuna, which is yellowfin tuna fish that has been previously frozen to kill off any parasites (theoretically though, there's no such thing as "sushi grade" -- it's just whatever the shop deems safe to consume as sashimi.)*
• Maui onion: has a sweeter, milder taste; if you can't find it, you can use red/purple onion instead
• green onion: adds a little punch of sharpness to the marinade
• light soy sauce: (shoyu) adds salty flavor to the tuna
• rice vinegar: adds a little tang and acidity; if you don't have rice vinegar, you can use a splash of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• sesame oil: use a toasted sesame oil; adds a little nutty aroma and flavor to the tuna
• chili oil: you can also use sriracha chili sauce or fresh Thai chili: also known as bird's eye chili -- finely minced; to your taste
• chili powder: adds a little spicy kick to the tuna; to your taste

For serving:

• cooked sushi rice: is a Japanese short-grained sticky rice used for making sushi; don't use jasmine rice, or long-grain glutinous rice
• ponzu: is a citrus-soy sauce that you can find in Asian/Japanese grocery stores; if you can't find it, you can use soy sauce with a little squeeze of lime/lemon

Other topping ideas

• wakame seaweed: is a seaweed salad flavored with aromatics and soy sauce
• furikake: Japanese rice seasoning
• sliced avocado
• sliced cucumber
• green onions
• cilantro
• corn
• edamame
• crunchy tempura
• crispy jalapenos
• fried onions
• fruit: pineapple or mango
• spicy mayo sauce: instead of ponzu
• sesame seeds: white and/or black

How to make spicy tuna poke

Prepare the spicy tuna:

Carefully rinse the tuna under cold running water.

Place the tuna on a clean cutting board.

Pat the tuna dry with paper towel. Cut into ½" cubes.

Place the cubed tuna into a clean glass bowl.

To the tuna, add in the diced onion, green onion, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chili oil and chili powder.

Gently mix the tuna with the marinade. 

The tuna will soften slightly as it marinates in the soy mixture.

Place it into the fridge and let it marinate overnight, or a minimum of 6 hours. (The longer the tuna sits in the marinade, the more flavorful it will be).

How to store

Store the marinated spicy tuna in an airtight, non-reactive container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

It's best to keep each component for the poke bowl separately, until ready to serve.

How to serve

Serve the marinated spicy tuna on cooked sushi rice with various toppings for a healthy poke bowl, pair the spicy tuna poke with crispy sushi rice, or you can enjoy it on its own as a snack.

Variations 

You can experiment with using smoked salmon or an aburi-style (torched) salmon if you don't like raw fish, or sashimi grade salmon.

Making it low carb? Substitute the rice with zucchini noodles, kelp noodles, or shirataki noodles.

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