Recipes

Miso Poke Bowl with Wasabi Mayo

Tuna or salmon over sushi rice with purple cabbage, cucumber, pickled carrot, a savory miso dressing and wasabi mayo.

By Lincoln Moore3 min read

Poke bowl with tuna, radish, edamame and wasabi mayo

On the menu this was the Miso Madness: the most savory of our poke bowls, built around a sweet-salty miso dressing with crunchy cabbage, cucumber and quick-pickled carrot, and a sharp hit of wasabi mayo.

The miso dressing is worth making in a double batch. It is just as good on salads and roasted vegetables.

Ingredients

For the fish

  • 300 g (10 oz) sushi-grade tuna or salmon, cut into 2 cm cubes
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

For the miso dressing

  • 2 tbsp white miso paste
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 2 to 3 tbsp warm water

For the bowls

  • 2 cups cooked sushi rice (below)
  • 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
  • 1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 carrot, julienned, tossed with 2 tbsp rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar and salt
  • 1/4 sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup wakame seaweed salad
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise mixed with 1/2 tsp wasabi paste

How to make it

  1. Make the sushi rice and let it cool. Toss the carrot with the vinegar, sugar and salt to quick-pickle.
  2. Whisk the miso dressing ingredients until smooth, adding warm water until it pours.
  3. Toss the fish with the soy sauce and sesame oil and chill for 10 minutes.
  4. Build the bowls: rice, then the fish, cabbage, cucumber, pickled carrot, sweet onion and seaweed salad.
  5. Drizzle with the miso dressing, add a little wasabi mayo and finish with scallions.

Sushi rice for two

Rinse 1 cup short-grain sushi rice until the water runs almost clear, then cook it with 1 1/4 cups water (in a rice cooker or a covered pan on low for 15 minutes, then 10 minutes resting off the heat). Stir together 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt until dissolved and fold it gently into the hot rice. Let it cool to warm or room temperature before building the bowls.

Buying and handling raw fish

Buy fish sold as sushi-grade or labeled safe to eat raw, on the day you plan to eat it, and keep it cold until the moment you cube and dress it. Raw fish is not recommended during pregnancy or for anyone with a weakened immune system; for them, use cooked salmon or shrimp, or tofu, dressed the same way.

Our old menu used hijiki seaweed in this bowl. We now use wakame instead: food safety agencies including the UK Food Standards Agency advise against eating hijiki because it can contain high levels of inorganic arsenic. Wakame gives the same savory, ocean flavor.

Why it works

Miso is a fermented soybean paste that brings deep, savory flavor in small amounts, so the dressing tastes rich without much oil. Purple cabbage and carrot add crunch, color and fiber.

Wasabi mayo is strong; a teaspoon or two per bowl is plenty to lift the whole thing.

Make it your own

  • Milder: skip the wasabi and use plain mayo with a squeeze of lime.
  • Lower sodium: use reduced-sodium soy sauce and a little less miso.
  • Vegetarian: cubed firm tofu or edamame instead of fish.

More poke: Maui-Style, Miso and Rising Sun bowls, or poke on avocado toast. See our guide to poke bowls.

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