How to make an easy ahi poke salad [Tuna Poke Bowl]

Poke has many variations including every eating style from Whole30, paleo, vegan, and vegetarian.

Poke bowls can be prepared gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, and egg-free based on what sauces, toppings, and mix-ins you include. There’s a little something for everyone here.

Poke is also great for meal prep since you can prepare it up to two days in advance for the raw fish versions. This guideline moves up to as long as four days for the cooked varieties.

Traditional Hawaiian poke bowls contain flavors influenced by Japanese and Korean influences. The flavors include soy sauce, green onions, and sesame oil.

What is Ahi Poke Salad Sushi Bowl?

This poke bowl recipe is made with ahi tuna, sticky sushi rice, carrots, cucumber, edamame, avocado topped with plenty of spicy sriracha sauce and crispy fried onions.

It’s the perfect combination of salty, spicy, crunchy, and chewy.

How Do You Pronounce Poke Bowl?

Poke is pronounced phonetically like po-keh and rhymes with okay. Okay, Poke!

Poke means “to cut or slice” in Hawaiian and usually refers to raw, marinated fish, usually ahi tuna, which is then served over rice and topped with vegetables and sauces.

See the variations section on how to build an endless supply of poke bowls to fit your family’s individual tastes.

Are Poke Bowls Healthy?

This is a trick question. For the most part, Poke bowls are pretty healthy but the full determination of how healthy any poke bowl is depends upon what toppings, sauces, or bases are added to the bowl.

However, as a general rule, they are pretty healthy. A basic poke recipe, including tuna and white sushi rice, is packed with a high amount of high-quality lean protein and good fats, especially the Omega-3.

Ahi Poke Bowl Calories

Ahi Tuna Poke bowl calories are very individual to what you add to your poke bowl and in what quantity.

For this recipe, it is 210 calories per serving before the addition of the toppings and includes a portion of the sushi rice. If you opt for a salad, the calorie count will be less.

What is Poke Sauce?

Kikkoman has come out with a new poke bowl sauce, but this is something you can easily make at home with just a few ingredients. You may already have them in your pantry. They are included on the recipe card below.

Poke Sauce is an authentic combination of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, lemon juice, and chili paste.

How to Buy Sushi Grade Raw Fish for Sushi and Poke Bowls

Selecting and buying the sushi-grade fish for your spicy tuna poke bowl is probably the most challenging part of this recipe.

This sushi buying guide by Reese Woods has you covered. It’s an excellent resource on how to research and purchase the raw tuna for this recipe.

Very similar to Reese’s advice, my friend Jason, who is an avid sushi eater and home chef, told me what to look for in a fish. I went to my local grocery (known for its impeccable fish supply) and spoke with the seafood manager.

The seafood manager has hooked me up in the past with fresh clams and crawfish. He was also able to easily guide me to the absolute best sushi-grade salmon and tuna for this recipe. The most important factor here is that I trust him implicitly.

I encourage you to talk to the fishmonger at your favorite grocery or fish supplier. They are (usually) very knowledgeable and are often your best resource for selecting the right fish for your recipe.

Are Poke Bowls Cooked?

This is another trick question. They are both.

Usually, poke bowls are well-chilled, marinated raw fish served over warm sushi rice with a variety of ingredients and toppings forming a “bowl” or a salad.

Not sure about consuming raw fish? That’s Okay, Poke!

Use seared tuna (or other cooked fish), cooked chicken, shrimp, crab, scallops, baby octopus, or tofu.

If you crave it, you can probably build a poke bowl around it. In that vein, a hibachi steak poke bowl doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Read the variations section for plenty of ideas on how to mix up the ingredients and toppings to create a nearly endless supply of poke bowls to satisfy every palate.

How to Make a Poke Bowl

At home or at a poke bowl restaurant, the process of building the perfect bowl is largely the same.

1. Choose a base. This is usually white sushi rice, brown sushi rice, or salad greens. You can also opt for a half-and-half mix of white and brown sushi rice or half rice and half greens.
2. Pick a Protein – There are so many options for this – salmon, tuna, shrimp, chicken, crab, scallops, or octopus. There are plant-based vegetarian poke bowls as well that start with soft or fried tofu.
3. Add your mix-in ingredients – like edamame, seaweed salad, cucumbers, carrots, jalapeno, avocado to name a few.
4. Choose a Sauce – This is where it gets fun. Choose one or two for a combination of flavors including sweet soy dressing, ponzu sauce (citrus-flavored soy), eel sauce, gochujang (Korean hot chili paste), Sriracha aioli (spicy mayo), Wasabi, or ginger.
5. Add Garnishes – These are usually crunchy and satisfy the crunchy craving. Here you might have toasted sesame seeds, tempura flakes, crispy fried onions, wonton or tortilla strips, crushed cashew or peanuts, or toasted coconut.