If you enjoy ordering raw fish at a restaurant, but get squeamish at the thought of handling it at home, I’m about to change your life. Handling raw fish is daunting for many and it was for me too. Am I getting good enough fish? How long do I actually have till the fish spoils? What the hell is sushi-grade anyway? There must be a Jido-style slicing method to sushi, right? The anxiety is real!

But once you bring a raw fillet of fish home, prep dinner with it, and don’t put your loved one in the ER, you’ll never be self-conscious about it again.

And because you don’t need to cook it, incorporating raw tuna makes for an easy weeknight meal. Enter the Poke Bowl. The variations are endless, but here is a recipe for my Poke Bowl. The only thing that is cooked is the brown rice, and the rest is assembled.

Basic guidelines for buying raw tuna: Ask the sushi counter (or fish counter) at your grocery store for a 12-14 ounce fillet of raw tuna, and make sure that the tuna was previously frozen (this is what gets rid of parasites). There is no need to ask for sushi-grade, which is just a meaningless marketing term. Make sure to stick it in the fridge as soon as you get home and if you won’t be home for a while, ask the grocery store to put the tuna on some ice. Eat it the day you buy it. Enjoy some Poke. The end. I think you’re ready…

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 12-14 ounce fillet of raw tuna
• 1/2 uncooked brown rice, cooked according to package instructions
• 5 radishes, sliced thinly
• 1 jalapeno, de-seeded and sliced,
• 1/2 an avocado, diced
• 1/2 an English cucumber, sliced thinly
• 2-3 spring onions, sliced thinly
• 6 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 4 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (I like Korean chili flakes, but regular red pepper flakes work)
• 1 package of Seaweed Snacks (optional)
• Furikake seasoning (optional, available in the Asian foods section of grocery stores)

Recipe:

Step 1: Prepare the sauce by whisking together in a bowl the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, scallions, and red pepper flakes.

Step 2: Assemble the bowl. Cooked brown rice on the bottom, topped in sections with the tuna, cucumbers, jalapenos, radishes, and avocado. Tuck 2 sheets of the seaweed into the corner if using.

Step 3: Top the bowl with as much sauce as desired. Garnish with furikake seasoning if using.