Tuna poke bowl with pickled radish

Vanessa Lewis

Recently I had the holiday of a lifetime, which culminated in Honolulu with my daughter. Nothing beats dad/daughter time: swims every day, visiting sea life parks, seeing all the fish, turtles and even dolphins. This is the stuff lifetime memories are made of. We also visited the local supermarket where they have a bar just for poke. Poke’s main ingredients are usually raw salmon, tuna and various shellfish, with lots of other fresh delights, in a bowl. Poke places are popping up all over New Zealand now, so I thought I’d share my take on it. An alternative serving suggestion for this poke bowl is to pack tuna into a ring mould, add a smear of sour cream, some avocado and a little rockmelon. Remove the ring mould, top with radish pickle (recipe below) and serve with micro salad greens and lime wedges on the side.

The tuna

200 g	Tuna, fresh (Main)
5 cm	Ginger
1 Tbsp	Tamari, or soy
¼ cup	Water
1	Chilli
¼ cup	Almonds
1	Lemon, juice only

To serve

1	Avocado, diced into small cubes
2	Limes
2 slices	Rockmelons, finely diced
2 leaves	Iceberg lettuce (Main)
4 tsp	Radishes, pickled, recipe below.
1 tsp	Sesame seeds

Pickled radishes

1 kg	Radish (Main)
1 cup	Rice wine vinegar
1 cup	Sugar
1 cup	Water

Directions

1. Dice the tuna into 1cm cubes
2. In a blender place the ginger, tamari, water, chilli, almonds and lemon, and process to a smooth dressing/ marinade. Use a little more water to get the right consistency if required.
3. Fold the marinade through the tuna. Set aside at room temperature for about an hour.
4. Place the diced avocado in a bowl and cover with the juice of one lime.
5. To assemble your poke, take the iceberg lettuce cups and fill with the tuna, top with avocado, rock melon and pickled radish.
6. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve with lime wedges.

For the pickled radishes

These are great to have in a jar in the fridge. They're so good when barbecuing to have as a side sprinkled over meats, grilled vegetables, even with fish.

1. Sterilise a large jar
2. Remove radish tops and finely slice
3. Place vinegar, sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
4. Pour the pickling liquid over the sliced radishes.
5. Pour the radishes and liquid into a sterilised jar and keep in the fridge.