Hawaiian Shrimp Poke Bowl

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• This colorful poke bowl (sometimes called rainbow poke bowl) is a fabulous mix of textures and flavors that is pure fun to look at and eat, of course!
• This dish is a great way to use up veggies and leftovers in your fridge.
• It is highly customizable so it’s easy to pick and choose the ingredients you like and leave out or replace what you or your family don’t care for.
• This is a perfect meal for sushi lovers! It’s much quicker and easier to put together, too!
• The variety of colorful vegetables, legumes and fruit makes it a whole and balanced meal. Enjoy it as lunch or dinner.
• It’s awesome as make ahead dinner or for meal prep.
• If you like the idea of sushi flavors in a bowl, make sure to also try Low-Carb Smoked Salmon Sushi Bowl or Quinoa Poke Bowl made with seared ahi tuna.

WHAT IS A POKE BOWL

Poke generally means raw cubed and marinated fish, typically tuna or salmon. It’s a traditional Hawaiian dish and it’s gained a lot of popularity in recent years. The word “poke” means to “slice” or “cut crosswise into pieces”.  Traditional Hawaiian poke is made with tuna or octopus.

Poke is often served on its own but in my opinion, the best kind of poke bowl is the one that’s a complete meal – served with rice, cooked and raw veggies, garnishes and drizzled with creamy spicy sauce.

The secret to a delicious poke bowl is a balance of flavors and textures. You’ll want something sweet (pineapple), something creamy (avocado), something spicy (Sriracha mayo), fresh raw veggies (carrots, onions), something cooked (corn, edamame), cooked rice, seafood (shrimp) and fun garnishes, such as pickled ginger, micro greens and nuts or wasabi peas.

INGREDIENT NOTES

This poke bowl combines cooled cooked ingredients (great way to use up leftovers!) with fresh fruit and veggies.

COOKED:

RAW:

• Micro greens: any micro greens or small sprouts will work for this recipe.
• Pineapple: fresh ripe pineapple cut into chunks is best.
• Carrots: I use my julienne peeler to create long thin strips of raw carrot but you can also shred it using a grater or a regular peeler.
• Onions: sweet onion such as vidalia is what you’ll want because it has a milder flavor than other kinds of onion.
• Avocado: for creamy texture and a dose of healthy fats.

GARNISHES:

• Pickled Ginger: it’s the kind of ginger served with sushi. You can get a jar in the international foods section at most grocery shops or online.
• Wasabi peas (optional): for extra crunch
• Furikake (optional): this Japanese seasoning is made with roasted seaweed, sesame seeds and spices. If you don’t have it, you can use crushed seaweed snacks and/or toasted sesame seeds (white, black or both).

WHAT’S IN A POKÉ BOWL SAUCE?

Good sauce is what brings the poke bowl flavors and textures together. There are several different options for a poke sauce, from a basic soy & sesame sauce to classic ponzu sauce to creamy mayo-based sauce.

For this Shrimp Poke Bowl I went with creamy Sriracha mayo that’s made with four ingredients and works very well with the shrimp pineapple combo.

Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Mayo: I like avocado oil mayo such as Sir Kensington’s but any mayo will work.
• Sriracha: the iconic hot sauce.
• Coconut Aminos (or Low-Sodium Soy Sauce): to add some umami flavor to the sauce.
• Mirin or Rice Vinegar: both are made with fermented rice. Mirin is sweetened Japanese cooking wine.

HOW TO MAKE SHRIMP POKE BOWL

Step 1: Prep the ingredients. Make sure your rice, corn, shelled edamame and shrimp are cooked and cold. Chop all the veggies and pineapple.

Step 2: Make the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together mayo, Sriracha, coconut aminos and rice vinegar until smooth. Set aside.

Step 3: Arrange your bowl. Place the rice, micro greens, pineapple chunks, shredded carrots, corn, edamame, onions, avocado slices and sushi ginger in a bowl. Then add cooked shrimp on top.

STORAGE TIPS

This shrimp poke bowl is a perfect meal prep dish that you can make ahead. Just arrange all the ingredients in airtight containers, store in the fridge and use up within 4 days. It’s up to you if you want to add avocado and dress it right away or store the sauce and avocado separately and add to the bowl right before serving. It will be delicious either way.

SUBSTITUTIONS & VARIATIONS

• If you don’t have a specific veggie, edamame or pineapple, just skip it or swap for something similar. This bowl has so many ingredients, you can mix and match as you like.
• For a low-carb version swap regular rice with cauliflower rice or salad greens.
• If you don’t have fresh pineapple, fresh mango will also work well.
• For a vegan poke bowl, swap shrimp for cooked tofu and use vegan mayo in place of regular mayo.
• Julienned carrots can be swapped for different crunchy veggies such as cucumber or radishes.
• To make this poke bowl more fancy, use short grain rice and turn it into sticky sushi rice or just mix in a splash of mirin (or rice vinegar) to cold rice.
• For a gluten-free bowl, make sure to skip soy sauce and use coconut aminos or tamari.
• If you don’t like spicy food, replace Sriracha with lime juice in the sauce recipe.

OTHER IDEAS TO TRY

• Low Carb Sushi Bowl with Smoked Salmon
• Furikake Salmon Buddha Bowl
• Egg Roll in a Bowl {Keto, Paleo, Low-Carb}
• Tofu Fried Cauliflower Rice
• Shrimp Yaki Udon
• Quinoa Poke Bowl

If you try this Hawaiian Shrimp Poke Bowl, be sure to leave me a comment and give this recipe a rating. I would love to hear from you and see how it turned out for you! You can also share and tag me on Instagram!

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