A poke bowl with canned tuna means you can have this colorful healthy Hawaiian favorite any time, anywhere, without having to source sushi grade raw fish ~ it’s a win win!
* This post is in partnership with Genovaยฎ Seafood
My poke ( โPOH-kayโ) bowl with canned tuna is full of classic Hawaiian flavors, a bevy of textures, and a veritable color wheel of nutrition ~ all anchored with premium albacore tuna. You can have this gloriously healthy tropical treat any day of the week without the last minute trip to the seafood market. Just pop open a can of Genova!
The word “poke” means “to slice” or “to cut crosswise into pieces” in Hawaiian. Historically, poke was made with small cuts of raw fish seasoned with salt, seaweed, and other local ingredients. Over time, the dish has evolved and become more popular, with new ingredients and flavors added to the traditional recipe. While the exact date of invention is unknown, poke has been a part of Hawaiian cuisine and culture for many generations.
what’s in my poke bowl with canned tuna
I love to bring the rainbow into my kitchen, I love the challenge of incorporating as many colors as possible into our food, and I love knowing that we’re eating better because of it. When it comes to diet, color equals health benefits in almost every case ~ here’s how it breaks down in this bowl:
- Black rice (aka Forbidden rice) ~ antioxidants, fiber, plus amino acids, vitamins, and minerals.
- Wild caught canned tuna ~ lean protein, omega 3 fatty acids, selenium, B vitamins and minerals.
- Red onion ~ cancer fighting flavonoids..
- Purple cabbage ~ immune boosting, anti-inflammatory, with cancer fighting flavonoids.
- Mango ~ antioxidants (vitamins A and C) to remove free-radicals from blood, fiber to lower cholesterol, low glycemic index to maintain healthy blood sugar level.
- Microgreens ~ many times more nutrient dense than mature greens.
- Carrots ~ carotenoids to fight heart disease, antioxidants, promotes eye and skin health.
- Persian cucumber ~ hydrates, detoxes, and helps with weight loss.
- Watermelon radish ~ fiber, folate, and vitamin C.
- Hot peppers ~ anti-inflammatory, with immune boosting vitamins.
- Pickled ginger ~ calms stomach, anti-inflammatory, also immune boosting.
- Seaweed ~ packed with fiber, minerals, and trace elements.
*Tuna packed in olive oil is the perfect choice for this recipe. Solid white tuna filet is mild tasting and comes out of the can in large pieces. I gently break it apart (poke means ‘to cut’ or ‘to chop’ in Hawaiian) after setting it on my rice. The fish takes on the wonderful flavors of the dressing and makes a perfect poke bowl without any of the worries associated with eating raw fish.
quick pickles
Two critical elements to making this poke bowl with canned tuna taste authentic are the pickled veggies and the tangy dressing.
Happily, the pickle is an instant recipe, that is, once you add the pickling brine, the radishes and cucumbers only need an hour to absorb the flavor. They stay super crunchy, too. The brine is a mixture of rice wine vinegar, water, hot pepper flakes, and cilantro. (You can re-use the pickling liquid, too, just keep it in the fridge.)
TIP: If you can’t find those beautiful watermelon radishes, use regular radishes, just cut them in thin slices or wedges.
You’ll want to use this technique all the time for quick pickles ~ it’s the same concept I used with my QUICK AND SPICY REFRIGERATOR PICKLES and my PICKLED RED ONIONS.
The dressing has a bit more ingredients to it, but the combination is soooo delicious. I would definitely make up a large batch to store in the fridge so you make easy poke bowls whenever the urge strikes.
lots of fresh texture
In addition to a variety of colors, I like a variety of textures and shapes, too, so I’ll purposely cut the ingredients in different ways.
I use a simple vegetable peeler to shave off thin ribbons of carrot. I cut the crunchy radish into matchsticks, and the papery sheets of nori seaweed into thin shreds. I cube the velvety mango, thinly slice the cukes and onions, and shred the purple cabbage. You get a nice variety without any special gadgets.
the rice in your poke bowl
I’ve used black rice for my poke bowls, and I love this rice for a few reasons. It has a great visual appeal (a deep rich purple color that looks black) especially with the vibrant ingredients in these bowls. It has a firm texture, an earthy flavor, and is way more nutritious than white rice. Look carefully in the rice section of large supermarkets…it’s there! Black rice stars in one of my favorite Asian recipes, TANGERINE CHICKEN.
more tuna please!
Rainbow Poke Bowl with Canned Tuna
Ingredients
pickle
- 1 watermelon radish, peeled and cut in thin matchsticks
- 1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced (do not peel)
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 sprigs cilantro
dressing
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp tamari , or soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp pineapple juice, substitute orange if you like
- 1 tsp hot chili paste, or Sriracha
- 1 tsp minced pickled ginger, or fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, black or white
bowl
- 1 cup black rice, or sushi rice
- 1/2 sheet dried seaweed, cut in thin shreds.
- 10 ounces canned tuna, drained
- 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup finely shredded red cabbage
- 1 small ripe mango, peeled and diced
- 1 handful microgreens, or sprouts of your choice
- 1 cup shaved or grated carrot
- 1/2 cup picked radishes
- 1/2 cup pickled cucumbers
- 2 Tbsp pickled ginger
- 1 hot red chili pepper, or jalapeno or Serrano pepper thinly sliced
garnish
- fresh cilantro leaves
- black or white sesame seeds
- lime wedges
Instructions
- First make the pickle. Pack the radish sticks and cucumbers into a jar, along with the cilantro. Heat the vinegar, water, and pepper flakes to a boil on the stove or in the microwave. Pour the hot brine over the vegetables, the liquid should just cover them. Set aside.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together, taste to adjust any of them, and set aside.
- Cook the rice according to package instructions. Toss it with the seaweed and some of the dressing to moisten and flavor it.
- Divide the rice between two bowls. Place the tuna in each bowl. Lift the tuna out gently with a fork to keep the chunks intact and leaving most of the oil in the can.
- Arrange the rest of the ingredients around the bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Top with garnishes, and serve.
Notes
- You can find pickled ginger in jars in the Asian section of your supermarket.
- Sesame oil is one of my favorite ingredients, but it’s intensely flavored, and expensive. If you like you can cut it down with any mild oil you like, avocado, almond, or even canola oil would work. If you want to use olive oil, make sure you use mild flavored pure oil, not extra virgin.
- Traditional poke bowls are served with warm rice and cold toppings. I found that cold rice worked, too. In either case toss the rice with some of the dressing for flavor.
- Other poke bowl toppings you might try would be avocados, green onion, pineapple, papaya, jicama, bell peppers, Maui onion, or edamame beans.
What a wonderful way to enjoy canned tuna. It’s the perfect lunch full of veggies from the rainbow. Yum.
Beautiful and so delicious sounding! The colors are so amazing. I will be sure to keep my pantry stocked with canned tuna from now on!
Thanks Chris!
Lovely looking salad, I like a good tuna salad and this one has some really nice things in it, especially the mango!
When mango is perfectly ripe it is so incredible. I fell in love with them all over again while making this recipe.
Such a lovely and colorful dish! I’m glad to hear that you don’t eat like this all the time because it makes me feel better about myself and my two color meals (sometimes). I love each and every ingredient in this bowl! So yummy and beautiful!
haha, I put in that bit about us not eating this way all the time at the last minute ~ I don’t want to food shame anyone ~ and some of my very favorite meals are 2-color ๐
Oh, Sue! This is so something I need to try! Love the pickled veggies here.
OMG, and did I ever tell you I only use Genova Tuna! The BEST!
No kidding, Suzy, we just pull out a can for snacking on when we get hungry ~ it’s the best.
The pickled veggies are EVERYTHING :)))
I like this idea! Sourcing sushi-grade fish has been the biggest deterrent for me. This looks healthy, quick, and delicious, Sue!
I think it’s especially hard for people who don’t live anywhere near a coast. This is a nice alternative, and no one should have miss out on a poke bowl!
So many beautiful colors and flavors going on in here. Love it!
This sounds delicious! A quick question about the dressing: you have 2 T of pineapple juice listed twice (though the second time says you can use orange juice if you want). Is that a misprint, or if we don’t have orange juice, should it be 4 T of pineapple? Thanks!
It was a typo, I fixed it, just 2 Tbsp of pineapple or orange juice. Thanks for spotting that Katie ๐
I LOVE this recipe Sue! The dressing sounds fantastic and the colors and textures make this a delight to enjoy. I wish I had a bowl for breakfast this morning!
Thanks Tricia ~ the dressing is fabulous, I’ll have to find another way to use it. And the colors and textures were a joy in this recipe, i really enjoyed photographing it!
…and eating it of course ๐
What a pretty rainbow tuna salad bowl! All the bright colours make me happy and hungry ๐
I’m so glad this makes you happy Angie!