Sesame Crusted Ahi Poke Bowl

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I love poke bowls! If you've never had one, it's basically like a deconstructed sushi roll in a bowl. My favorite poke place has endless amounts of ingredient combinations- you really can't go wrong no matter what you pick. Recently, we picked up some ahi steaks and decided to do poke bowls. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but it was a total game changer. This will definitely be a regular part of our meal rotation. I also rediscovered my love for seaweed. This is so so good with sheets of seaweed used to scoop up all of this goodness like a tortilla (thanks leftover salmon bowl trend)!

It was so good I had to recreate it when so many of you reached out asking for the recipe.

I love how simple this is to bring to life.You can pre-prep all of the components making this such a great recipe to have on hand for busy mealtimes when you just need to throw something together in a hurry but still want to eat well. All I had to cook was the rice and Ahi which are both so simple to do. DO NOT be intimidated to try the ahi steaks. They were so much easier than I thought. You can buy sauces from your local grocery store. I love this Japanese Barbecue Sauce I randomly picked out. I've also included my homemade Sweet and Salty Sesame Sauce as well as a creamy sriracha sauce (which is really just spicy mayo made with sour cream instead of mayonnaise because I can't even look at mayo without wanting to gag). All 3 of these sauces together were unbelievably good and I highly recommend! Topping options are endless and you can also switch up your base. For this recipe I used sushi rice, but you could do a bed of mixed greens, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, or even cauliflower rice. I've even seen people go as far as using tortilla chips for poke nachos. Traditionally sushi rice has a mixture of sugar, salt, and rice vinegar mixed in but I found there was so much flavor in the toppings and sauces, I didn't need to do that for his to cut back on added sugar and sodium. If you're not a fan of fish but still want to enjoy, I've seen these made with grilled chicken, steak, or tofu. Much like my favorite poke spot, you cannot go wrong when it comes to selecting your ingredients! Pick your favorites and run with it.

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Recipe

Makes 2 bowls (plus some leftovers)

Ingredients

For Rice

1 cup sushi rice

2 cups water

pinch of salt

For Seared Sesame Crusted Ahi

2 Tbsp avocado oil

1 cup black sesame seeds (plus more if needed)

1 lb fresh ahi tuna steak

For Creamy Sriracha Sauce

3 Tbsp sour cream (or mayo if you must)

1 Tbsp Sriracha

1 Tbsp water

For Creamy Sweet and Salty Sesame Sauce

2 Tbsp tahini

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp coconut aminos

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 medium clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Toppings

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup finely shredded purple cabbage

1/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts

1/4 cup crunchy onions

1/4 green onion slices

2 tsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp crumbled roasted seaweed

Extra sheets of roasted seaweed

6 slices watermelon radish

Japanese Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

1. Rinse rice and place in a medium pot with 2 cups of water and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil.

2. Place lid on pot and simmer on low for 15 minutes. Turn heat off and let sit for 5 more minutes (DO NOT REMOVE LID) before fluffing with a fork.

3. While rice is cooking, prepare toppings as needed and set aside.

4. Mix Sriracha and sour cream together adding water in a little at a time until desired drizzling consistency is reached. Set aside.

5. Mix all ingredients for Sweet and Salty Sesame Sauce together and set aside.

6. Pour avocado oil in a cast iron pan and turn on high. You want the pan pretty piping hot, but please use caution to avoid burning the oil or getting burnt yourself. Cut Ahi steaks to a manageable size. I usually cut in half so I can have small slices that are encrusted in sesame all around.

7. Pour sesame seeds in a shallow dish and press ahi steaks firmly onto them so that the sesame seeds coat all sides (the sesame seeds will stick to the ahi on their own).

8. Once the cast iron pan is piping hot, carefully place sesame coated ahi in pan. You want to sear them on all sides for about 30 seconds per side. Slice ahi as desired and set aside.

9. Assemble bowls placing sushi rice on the bottom of the bowls (you may have extra rice for later) followed by ahi tuna and accompanying toppings.

10. Drizzle with sauces and serve with a side of roasted seaweed sheets if desired.

Enjoy!