I love poke. For quite a while, I was eating it almost every Friday. I even planned a trip to Hawaii specifically so I could eat poke and Spam for a week straight. (Cancelled due to COVID. RIP.) There’s no raw fish here, but it’s got everything else you love in a poke bowl…and it was surprisingly simple.
The only thing that actually takes time to cook is the sushi rice. It’s totally hands off, but takes about 25 min so get that going in the rice cooker. You’ll be able to prep everything else – and clean all the dishes – before the rice is ready. When the rice is done cooking, fluff it up with a 2:2:1 ratio of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. For the protein, I went with shrimp. I tossed them in seafood seasoning and pan-cooked in some oil. Done in 3 minutes. You can use frozen for this as long as you’ve defrosted and patted nice and dry. Now for the other toppings:
- Kani (aka fake crab) – I gave mine a rough chop before plating
- Edamame (so easy to find frozen now)
- Avocado (sliced or chopped)
- Cucumber (chopped)
- Caviar (use the cheap stuff – it’s mostly for the salt factor without using soy sauce so your rice stays nice and sticky)
- Furikake (you could also use dried nori snacks that you crush up, but I recommend just buying a shaker of this since it’s delicious and less messy)
- Sriracha Mayo (mayo and sriracha, mixed to desired level of spiciness)
Serve it buffet style so everyone can pick and choose their toppings. I used literally every topping I put out there…my beau was less adventurous; but hey, that’s what makes the world go round.
After eating, I immediately texted one of my preggo friends to let her know I thought this would be a great dish for expecting mamas. It satisfies the sushi/poke craving while being totally safe to eat. It also takes very little time to prepare and doesn’t require the oven – two things a pregnant chick who‘s been on her feet all day in this crazy summer heat would likely appreciate.
Peaches to Apples 