Thanks to social media and today’s plugged in society, trends are more prominent than ever. For obvious reasons food trends are our favorite. Raw fish, both sushi and sashimi-style, have been in the hot seat a number of different ways recently: sushi burritos, sushi burgers…the poke bowl.
Photo courtesy of eater.com
For those of you who haven’t yet heard about this refreshing meal, poke originated in Hawaii where it translates to simply “chunk,” and used to refer to any seafood or meat that was cubed and tossed with toppings. Nowadays it typically refers to a raw fish salad. The fish will usually be Yellowfin tuna with traditional seasonings such as soy sauce, sesame oil, chili pepper and sea salt.
Photo courtesy of wellandgood.com
In metropolitan areas such as LA, Dallas and NYC, this dish has spread like wildfire. Along the way, it has picked up little influences from each location, adding a whole new dimension to the dish. The array of toppings in some restaurants will blow you away.
Photo by Haley Greco
To create our very own DIY poke bowls, we first hit our local seafood market to pick up a slab of fresh tuna. Once we had our base of fish, it was time for the fun part to begin: choosing our toppings. There are endless options to what you can put atop your tuna. A few ingredients we chose to go with were edamame, mandarin oranges, cucumber slices, mango chunks, pickled ginger and cubed avocado.
Photo by Haley Greco
Some other yummy toppings could include shredded carrots and crispy wonton strips. You can put rice at the bottom if you want your bowl to be more filling. We added our own twist to tradition and kicked up our poke bowls with a few drizzles of Sriracha sauce. The Sriracha was definitely a major key. It blended perfectly with all the fresh ingredients and really brought our bowls to the next level.
Photo by Haley Greco
Don’t wait for your city to catch on to this delicious trend. Be a foodie, feel like a chef, and D.I.Y.