When the weather is nice, I always enjoy making a vegan poke bowl. It looks a lot of work, but is actually ready quickly, you can process leftovers and is ideal if you want to meal prep.
What is a Poke Bowl?
A poke bowl is a Hawaiian dish where “poke” stands for cutting into cubes or slices. Traditionally fish is cut into thin slices, but you can also make a vegan version without fish by using tofu or carrot lox (vegan smoked salmon.
Originally, this dish contained only a few ingredients, but the modern way contains a lot of vegetables. Incidentally, hot and cold ingredients are combined, which I certainly love to eat in the summer.
More and more restaurants started in recent years and they mainly serve this modern way of poke bowl.
Last year we went around in Hasselt (Belgium) and we passed there a Hawaiian poke bowl restaurant. You could take away or eat on the spot. We did the latter. You could choose for a bowl they had put together or choose what you wanted in it. Very nice and tasty and more than enough such a bowl full.
How do you make a poke bowl?
Making the poke bowl does not take much time. It’s just a matter of cutting up some vegetables. All you have to cook is the rice or quinoa and you can bake the tofu or tempeh if you like.
You can eat a poke bowl every day and yet not eat the same thing for a day. And if someone doesn’t like something, you can leave out one ingredient and replace it with another. An ideal dish for both families and alone.
You can cut everything in advance, cook the rice and prepare tofu. All you have to do right before you eat is to heat rice and tofu. This is not only useful if you have little time to cook that day, but also if you have a party. You make it in advance, display everything as with a buffet and everyone puts together their own bowl. Nobody complains anymore “I don’t like that” 😉
What do you need to assemble your vegan poke bowl?
Foundation
You can use sushi rice or brown rice, but also quinoa, couscous, salad, zucchini pasta, cauliflower rice. A little sesame oil or tamari on top gives it more flavor. You can also choose nachos.
Protein
For a vegan poke bowl you can use tofu, tempeh, chickpeas (possibly a little fried with chicken spices), beans, peas or mushrooms. If you use tofu, it is best to marinate it. Otherwise it will taste a bit bland.
Example for the marinade: 3 tbsp tamari, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 1 tsp maple syrup, freshly grated ginger. Make a double portion if you also want to use it as a dressing.
Depending on what you take here in terms of protein source, you can choose to bake it, serve it hot or cold.
Vegetables and fruits
Take at least five different vegetables, the more the better 😉 Cut the chosen vegetables into strips or cubes.
I use (cherry) tomatoes, cucumber and onion as standard. What else is possible? Mango, pineapple, corn, beetroot, carrot, jalapeno pepper, bell pepper, seaweed salad, red cabbage, radishes, kale, broccoli, spinach, pickled vegetables, avocado or you can make guacamole.
Sauce / dressing
Without a sauce or dressing, your poke bowl becomes a dry bite and not very tasty. So adding a sauce can make or break your dish. You can use vegan mayo, soy cream, lime juice, an avocado dressing, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame dressing, wasabi sauce or the marinade in which the tofu had been.
See if you like salt, sour, sweet, fresh, and what suits the rest of your ingredients.
Toppings
You can spice up your bowl by adding toppings. I like to use roasted sesame seeds for this, but also bicky onions, spring onions, sprouts, coconut flakes, coriander, nuts, chili flakes, kale chips.
Have you ever eaten a poke bowl or do you feel like it? Please leave a comment at the bottom of this page.