Recipe: Smoked Salmon Poke Bowl with LINGHAM’s Special Sauce

I try to eat healthy when I can. Lately, there’s been a poke bowl craze going on to encourage many to enjoy healthy food. Poke bowl originates from Hawaii and took off as a major trend in Los Angeles dining scene recently. It landed on our Malaysian shores lately and Malaysians seem to have taken a liking to this healthy bowl as well.

I had my first Hawaiian Ahi Poke Bowl or Tuna Poke Bowl when I visited my sister 20 years ago in Hawaii in a Japanese restaurant. It’s obviously not authentic Japanese but rather a Hawaiian twist on Japanese rice bowl. Usually, the condiments on a poke bowl is raw except for the cooked rice. Hawaiian poke bowl uses sushi rice as a base and topped it with seasoned sashimi, originally tuna fish which is usually cut into cubes. It’s the sauce that really shakes up the flavours of a poke bowl.

And so I was inspired to make my own poke bowl once day when I had some smoked salmon in the fridge. So my version isn’t exactly the authentic Hawaiian kind either but I wanted to enjoy something similar and healthy. I also wanted a creamy and spicy sauce to jazz up my poke bowl and so I started playing with my all-time-favorite LINGHAM’s Chili Sauce for this special sauce.

My Smoked Salmon Poke Bowl with LINGHAM’s Special Sauce is very easy to dish up. Simply topped your favorite ingredients on cooked rice or sushi rice and serve with my LINGHAM’s Special Sauce. I used LINGHAM’s Ginger Chili Sauce and Sriracha Sauce because one is sweet with a gingery note and the other is spicy with a kick. Blend the sauces with fresh lemongrass, onion and cilantro to brighten and freshen up the flavours and add some apple vinegar for a hit of tang. The LINGHAM’s Special Sauce is very versatile and can be used as a dipping sauce too for fried or grilled food.

Smoked salmon’s saltiness is balanced by fresh sweet and fruit mango with crispy textures of pea shoots and radish while cherry tomatoes added a pop of juiciness to the bowl. Hope you enjoy my version of poke bowl and don’t forget to change up any ingredients you like or don’t like on the poke bowl.

Smoked Salmon Poke Bowl with LINGHAM’s Special Sauce

Ingredients for Poke Bowl

1 cup           Rice

1 packet      Smoked Salmon

1 small        Mango

Handful       Pea Shoots

Some           Radish

Some           Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients for LINGHAM’s Special Sauce

½ cup          LINGHAM’s Ginger Chili Sauce

2 tbsp          LINGHAM’s Sriracha Sauce

3 tbsp          Mayonaise

2 tbsp          Apple Vinegar

1 stalk         Lemongrass

1 small        Red Onion

Some           Cilantro

                   Pepper to season

Method

Cooked rice, peel and slice mango into slices, slice up radish thinly and cut cherry tomatoes into half.

Blend together LINGHAM’s Ginger Chili Sauce and Sriracha Sauce, mayonnaise, apple vinegar, lemongrass, red onion, cilantro stem and leaves till smooth and fine, season pepper to taste.

Assemble smoked salmon, mango, pea shoots, radish and cherry tomatoes on to the cooked rice.

Served with LINGHAM’s Special Sauce on the poke bowl or on the side.

Extra Notes and Tips

• Add more LINGHAM’s Ginger Chili Sauce or Sriracha Sauce to your liking.
• Condiments on Poke bowl can be change to suit your favorite ingredients.
• Try different range of LINGAM’s chili sauce – Original, Garlic, Thai, Extra Hot

Recipe: Baja Style Fish Tacos with Lingham’s Sriracha Crema

I am always fascinated with the many cuisines of the world and are game to try them. Ask my family and my boys will tell you that I don’t stick to one particular favorite cuisine at any time. On a regular week, I would enjoy various cuisines from all over the world happily simply because sticking to one cuisine is boring for me.

I was first introduced to Mexican food when I went abroad to study in the States. Even then, I was a bit hesitant about this cuisine, maybe because I wasn’t a fan of brown beans and green mush. Eating my words later after trying them with much persuasion from my sister, I have now grown to love Mexican food so much that I am quite frustrated that this cuisine is not as easily available in Malaysia as I would have loved.

Those days of visiting a little Mexican grocery store near my house where the owners barely speak any English was a priceless experience. I pointed out to what others are having and after the explosion of flavours, I have fallen deeply in love with green mush of Guacamole and creamy brown beans in my tacos and burritos. I have even tried making tacos at home, eager to replicate those longing of my favorite Mexican grocery stall. Usually I make pork or beef taco but then I was craving for fish tacos the other day.

Fish taco is not common here but it’s very popular in US. Originating from Baja in Mexico, the US version took off by storm and I had one of the best Baja Style Fish Tacos in San Diego. It’s simply a treat of bombastic flavours when it comes to this taco. Crispy fish, coleslaw, spicy crema sauce and corn tortilla was a genius creation if you asked me. So I set out to try and make this home one weekend.

Though many uses flour tortilla as they are more easily available here, there are some grocery stores like Village Grover who carries corn tortilla. I love corn tortilla more because I like the rustic corn flavour but you can just use flour tortilla if you can’t find corn. Buy a nice white firm fish for the crispy fish to get better flavours like halibut, lemon sole, cod, tilapia and more. I don’t recommend using Dory as it can taste frozen and watery unless you can find imported John Dory, which is Not the same as our regular Dory.

And since its also harder to Chipotle chili, I used my all-time-favorite LINGHAM’s Chili sauce for the sauce. LINGHAM’s Sriracha Sauce is perfect for this as it is pungent and piquant, boosting the crema or sour cream to new spicy notes. I also added some LINGHAM’s Original Chili Sauce in the taco for extra sweet and spicy flavours. Coleslaw is added to balance up the taco to a lighter note. I also added avocado because it is a classic in many Mexican dish.

The result is certainly very tasty and satisfying! Even my boys who are not a fan of Mexican food (cos I have yet to convert them to love this cuisine) enjoyed this with me. The crispy fish with crunchy and tangy slaw with corn tortilla and spicy robust sauce was a joy to eat.

Taco is quite a flexible dish so simply adjust the ingredients to your liking and to also what’s available in store for you. Try this for a party and let your guest assemble their own taco too. Make this and let me try to convince you to love tacos just as much as I do…

Baja Style Fish Tacos with LINGHAM’s Sriracha Crema

Cabbage Slaw

300gm          Red or White Cabbage (finely shredded)

50gm            Carrot (finely shredded)

½                 Onion (finely shredded)

5 tbsp           Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp             Sugar

                    Pinch of Salt

Spicy Sauce

2 tbsp           LINGHAM’s Sriracha Sauce

4 tbsp           Mayonnaise

4 tbsp           Sour Cream

½                 Lime (squeeze for juice)

Crispy Fish

400gm          White Fish (Snapper, Lemon Sole, Tilapia – cut into thick long strips)

1 cup            Plain Flour

1 tbsp           Wheat Starch (optional)

1 tbsp           Baking Powder

1 cup            Cold Water

1 tsp             Salt

                    Extra Plain Flour to lightly dust fish

                    Pepper to season

                    Oil for deep fry

                   

Fish Taco

8 pcs            Flour or Corn Tortilla

1 box           Cherry Tomatoes (cut into small quarters)

1                  Avocado (optional)

some            Cilantro leaves

1                  Red Chili (optional)

                    LINGHAM’s Chili Sauce

Method

Mix all the Cabbage Slaw ingredients, season to your taste and chill in fridge.

Mix all the Spicy Sauce ingredients and chill in fridge till ready to use.

Mix plain flour, wheat starch, baking powder, salt and cold water to a smooth batter.

Season fish strips with pepper and lightly dust with extra plain flour.

Heat up oil in a deep pot till fairly hot to ensure that the fish fries well.

Dip the fish strips into the batter and deep fry the fish till cooked, crispy and golden brown.

Season the hot crispy fish strips with a little salt while it’s still hot.

On a grill pan, lightly toast and warm up the tortilla and keep them covered in a kitchen towel together.

When ready to eat, top the tortilla with coleslaw, crispy fish strips, spicy sauce, LINGHAM’s Chili sauce, chopped cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado, cilantro leaves, red chili and lime wedge.

Serves 4

Extra Notes and Tips

• Substitute white fish with Salmon or prawns or squid
• Double fry the fish for extra crispiness and keep in warmed oven
• Any cabbage will do but I use purple for colors
• Add more LINGHAM’s Sriracha sauce if you like it spicier
• Make your own Salsa or Pico de Gallo and Guacamole to add to the tacos for extra flavours