recipe: tuna bowl with avocado & shiso
Ever since my trip to Squirl and indoctrination into its world of delicious rice bowls piled high with flavors and textures, I'd been determined to some day recreate the concept at home.
And after a few too many cheese and pizza and ice cream and cocktail nights, the Man and I decided that time was most definitely now, given that it was that or figuring out the new fangled juicing thing. Since I refuse to drink my meals (...other than the classic champagne dinner), a rice bowl it was.
And what a rice bowl indeed. In 20 minutes we had one of the most satisfying, delicious, fun meals we'd had in a long time and are actually counting days til we can break it out again.
You need:
- Rice: I think brown adds a nice nuttiness, but pick your poison
- Sushi rice vinegar
- Fish, ideally tuna, but really any fish that you'd happily eat at sushi will work
- Avocado
- Cucumber, either sliced into thin rounds or chopped into matchsticks
- Other crisp vegetables. In this case, we used blanched sugar snap peas, chopped into half inch pieces, sliced radishes, and a pile of bean sprouts. If possible, chop all vegetables into roughly the same shape and size
- Something pickled: we used jarred ginger, but if you have the time, anything quick pickled would be great
- Extra herbs: we used green onions and shiso. If you can get shiso, it takes the dish from real nice to realllly nice and is totally worth the $2 splurge.
- Soy sauce and/or wasabi or your favorite Japanese condiments
To do:
- When making the rice, add a dash of soy sauce to the cooking water
- Once the rice is cooked, sprinkle with a mixture of sushi rice vinegar and a tiny bit of soy sauce, and leave to cool
- Prepare your vegetables, which for the most part should amount to chopping, possible blanching, and perhaps quick pickling
- Assemble all ingredients in eating bowls
- When everything is ready to go, salt each side of the fish, heat a nonstick pan on high with oil (we like grapeseed for the high burn point), and toss it on
- Sear the fish on both sides (note that the timing is very dependent on the type of fish and how thickly it's cut. Our tuna was surprisingly thin so we cooked it for about 30 seconds each side)
- Slice fish against the grain and top up your bowl
- Serve with a drizzle of soy sauce, and wasabi on the side
