Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl

Amarante ↓

Tue, May 28 2024, 1:34 pm

I had all the ingredients in the pantry so I thought why not

Most fish bowls use sushi grade raw tuna but who doesn't have canned tuna seeking inspiration?

I usually make a very good "regular" tuna salad to use as a sandwich filling but this was a nice change of pace and easy to throw together

SPICY TUNA RICE BOWL

Excerpt From: Mark Bittman - Dinner for Everyone: 100 Iconic Dishes Made 3 Ways--Easy, Vegan, or Perfect for Company

makes: 4 servings
time: 25 minutes

1½ cups short-grain white rice
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt
Two 6-ounce cans tuna (preferably packed in oil), drained
¼ cup mayonnaise (see this page)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 scallions, whites and greens separated and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
½ teaspoon wasabi powder (or mustard powder), or to taste
Pepper
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Put the rice in a small saucepan with 3 cups water, the rice vinegar, sugar, and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles steadily and enthusiastically without boiling over. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes, then stir, cover, and cook, checking every few minutes, until craters appear on the surface of the rice and no water is visible when you tip the pan, another 5 to 10 minutes. Stir again, cover, and remove from the heat; let the rice sit.

2. While the rice is cooking, mix the tuna, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, scallion whites, celery, and wasabi powder in a bowl and sprinkle with pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt if you like.

3. To serve, stir the rice with a flat wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, using a fast, scooping-and-folding motion and pressing down gently until the rice is sticky and cooled a little, just a minute or 2; taste and add salt if necessary. Divide the warm rice among 4 bowls, top with the tuna mixture and sliced avocado, and garnish with the sesame seeds and scallion greens.

↑ Amarante ↓

Tue, May 28 2024, 3:32 pm

mudpies wrote:

This looks interesting, I've never made anything like it before but would be interested to try. Can I do it with regular rice, though? We have basmati rice around. Would that work the same?

The result would be a bit different.

If you eat sushi - either rolls or nigiri, then you know that the rice used has a certain consistency so it sticks together.

Basmati rice which is longer has a bit different starch component so even when cooked it wouldn't have the same kind of slightly sticky texture that is sushi rice.

Per the directions, the turning of the rice also helps the stickiness develop.

So you could of course use basmati rice but the texture won't have that "sticky" quality like sushi rice but it should taste fine.

And if you like the recipe enough to duplicate you could then get some short grain "sushi" style rice for the next time you make it.

↑ Amarante

Tue, May 28 2024, 3:51 pm

mudpies wrote:

Thank you, that's good advice.
I love sushi, that's why I asked Smile

I'd love to have something similar to sushi, but I don't have any sushi rice in the house and don't have time to get out this week to a store that sells it.

I think the rice texture would be different than the rice in sushi. Since you eat it, you know how sticky rice is different than "fluffy" rice.

By the way, there is a rice that is more of a potchke that I have eaten at restaurant which is spicy tuna on crispy rice. At the restaurants they use real tuna and not canned tuna but the seasonings are pretty similar.

But this one was so easy and essentially just a different flavored tuna salad which is why I decided to try it.

Also to be realistic, real spicy tuna is made with raw diced sushi tuna which is chopped and mixed with ingredients and this is using canned cooked tuna