This Vegan Poke bowl is flavorful, easy to make, and satisfying. The umami from the soy sauce, acid from the vinegar, and spice from the red pepper flakes make for a delicious meal.
What exactly is Poke? Well first it is pronounced ‘pok-ay’ and it means chunk in Hawaiian. It refers to how the fisherman would cut the leftover parts of the fish into chunks and season them to eat as a snack. The most popular fish is yellowfish tuna or ahi tuna, but technically you can make poke out of any seafood, even octopus.
But if you don’t want to use fish, the marinade itself can be used to marinade other foods. If you made my Vegan Sushi you already are aware of Japanese yam cake. It holds flavors very well and the texture is really similar to raw fish. It is perfect for this recipe.
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Ingredients for Vegan poke bowl
For the marinade, you will need:
- Japanese yam cake. Also known as konnyaku and this is a gelatinized starch. This will be our “fish” since the texture is very similar to raw fish and it is neutral in flavor, so it holds other flavors very well. You can find this in most Asian markets.
- Beet powder. The red color the beets produce is used to mimic the color of tuna. This is not entirely necessary, but it does make it more appealing.
- Soy sauce. Soy sauce adds the umami and salt to the marinade.
- Rice Vinegar. This is to balance the flavors with acid. The flavor is sweeter than white vinegar, but you can use white vinegar if that’s all you have.
- Ginger
- Red pepper flakes. This adds spice. You can also use siracha, aleppo, or finely diced chili. Or omit completely if you don’t like spice.
- Green onions. Green onions are less pungent then red or white onions. This is used in the marinade and as a garnish.
- Sesame seeds.
This creates a really flavorful marinade, but you also need to serve it on top of rice and any other toppings you want. I used sliced radish, steamed edamame, and sliced carrots. When you mix everything together, the textures and flavors are the most intriguing part of the dish.
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Vegan Poke Bowl
Materials
"Tuna" Marinade
- 1 Japanese yam cake
- 2 tsp beet powder
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 green onions
- 1 tsp black toasted sesame seeds
Other components
- white or brown rice
- edaname
- sliced cucumber
- sliced radish
- julienne carrots
Spicy Mayo
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo
- 4 tsp siracha
Instructions
The marinade
- Wash the Japanese yam cake in cold water and cut into 1/4" cubes. Add to a bowl.
- In a different bowl, add all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well. Pour on top of the cubed yam cake. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 10 hours or overnight.
- Prepare the other ingredients and have them ready. Fill bowls with rice and arrange toppings on top. Then take the marinated yam cake out of the fridge and spoon on top.
- Garnish with green onions and spicy mayo sauce (optional)
I hope you try this recipe. If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below.
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