Recipe Spoke Bowl

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Poke bowls are similar to deconstructed sushi, but there seems to be more flexibility with the ingredients, since you don't have to roll them up like sushi. One of the things that makes a poke bowl special to me is that it's intended to be served with hot and cold components. Usually, the rice is the only hot thing in the bowl. In this case, I also heated up the Spam...I've eaten cold Spam before, but I think it works better this way.

The other thing that's distinctive in a poke bowl is the seasoning for the meat. This meat is almost always fish, but the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and honey blend gives a distinct flavor that really works with the Spam. I'm thinking I should have soaked the meat to impart more of the flavor, but you do still taste it. And despite all the ingredients, this is a really easy recipe to make. I forgot that I had an avocado, so it doesn't appear in the picture, but there are a lot of different places you can take this recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups white rice, cooked
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, divided
1 can Spam, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
pickled ginger
carrot, shredded
mushroom, sliced
avocado, if desired
other vegetables, if desired
sesame seeds, if desired

Directions

1. Cook rice according to instructions. Stir in 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar.

2. Blend remaining vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey in a bowl. Stir Spam chunks to coat and allow to rest. If using mushrooms, also soak them.

3. Arrange cold ingredients to be added to the bowl.

4. Place hot rice in the bowl. If using mushrooms, soak in the same mixture as the Spam before adding. Arrange ingredients in sections.

5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired, then serve.

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

View attachment 109248

Poke bowls are similar to deconstructed sushi, but there seems to be more flexibility with the ingredients, since you don't have to roll them up like sushi. One of the things that makes a poke bowl special to me is that it's intended to be served with hot and cold components. Usually, the rice is the only hot thing in the bowl. In this case, I also heated up the Spam...I've eaten cold Spam before, but I think it works better this way.

The other thing that's distinctive in a poke bowl is the seasoning for the meat. This meat is almost always fish, but the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and honey blend gives a distinct flavor that really works with the Spam. I'm thinking I should have soaked the meat to impart more of the flavor, but you do still taste it. And despite all the ingredients, this is a really easy recipe to make. I forgot that I had an avocado, so it doesn't appear in the picture, but there are a lot of different places you can take this recipe.

Ah, but not necessarily so The Late Night Gourmet ... In Hawaii (where the Poke Bowl originates) you can put anything you like in.
Hot, Cold, Fish, Veggies, Meats-a popular meat would be a combo of Kalua Pig, Lomi Lomi Salmon, maybe some Shoyu Ahi Poke and so on.

When my husband and I were still working back in Honolulu, many moons ago, he would go to a local supermarket near where he worked that serves THE BEST Poke on the Island. I suggested to him that he ask the nice folks to "make it a meal" by putting the Poke over a bowl of Rice - bingo!