Vegan poke bowl

Poke is all the rage, but usually contains meat or fish. Pronounced Poh-kay, the dish originated in Hawaii as either an appetiser or main course. Here we have a vegan alternative to the traditional raw fish version. 

VEGAN POKE BOWL

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 30g/1oz of soba noodles
• 1 bunch of baby pak choy, quartered
• 3 tbsp / 60ml of rice wine vinegar
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of caster sugar
• 1 carrot, grated (or julienne)
• 2 radishes, sliced
• 3 tbsp / 40ml of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp / 40ml of water
• 2 tbsp / 40ml of mirin
• 1 tsp of pickled ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp of dried wakame (edible seaweed), soaked in 60ml/3tbsp of boiling water
• 1 cups of purple cabbage, shredded/finely sliced
• 125g / 4oz of semi-firm tofu, sliced
• ½ tsp of sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1. Cook the soba noodles as per packed instructions (usually 4 minutes in boiling water). After 2 minutes, add the pak choy. Strain and refresh under cold water then set aside.
2. While the noodles are cooking, make a pickle by combining the vinegar, salt and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Keeping the carrot and the radishes in separate bowls, pour half the liquid over each and set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
3. Make the ponzu dressing by combining the soy sauce, water, mirin and pickled ginger. Set aside for serving.
4. Hydrate the wakame in the boiling water.
5. Once the noodles and pak choy are cooked, assemble the poke bowl using the noodles as a base. Top with cabbage, pak choy and tofu.
6. Drain the pickled carrot and radish and arrange in the bowl.
7. Strain the wakame and place in the centre of the bowl, top with toasted sesame seeds then serve with the dressing on the side to add as you eat.

TIP
Use any vegetables you have in your crisper that you want to use up – it is the perfect war on waste meal.