Skip to main content
Epicurious

Beet "Poke" Bowl

By José Andrés

4.0

(3)

A composed bowl of rice dusted with furikake marinated beets carrots and onions and seaweed salad.
Photo by Peter Frank Edwards

This is a bowl of marinated beets and rice, but it’s also one of our best sellers at Beefsteak. Charisse Dickens, our amazing Hawaiian chef and a dear friend who manages a lot of our R&D, cringes a bit when we use the word poke to describe these beets. To her, poke is marinated fish, the dish that has started showing up everywhere across the United States these past few years, and that’s it. I told her we could call this marinated beets and rice, but then it would only be half as popular at Beefsteak.

Note:

While there are dozens of varieties of furikake (a Japanese seasoning mix), most contain dried fish or shellfish. To make this dish vegan, swap it out for gomasio, a Japanese sesame seed–based condiment.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

4 medium beets, or 4 packaged cooked medium beets (1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch dice

Cider-Ginger Marinade:

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup diced sweet onion, such as Maui or Vidalia
3 cups cooked white rice

To serve:

1 cup seaweed salad (from the sushi counter at a gourmet market or grocery store)
Furikake (see note)
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

Preparation

  1. For the Marinated Beets:

    Step 1

    If using fresh beets, boil whole until fork tender, about 50 minutes. Drain and run under cold water. Use a paper towel to peel the beets, then cut into 1/2-inch dice.

    Step 2

    Put the beets in a medium heatproof bowl. Combine the water, vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Add the salt and peppercorns and bring to a boil. Strain the hot marinade over the beets and stir in the ginger. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

    Step 3

    The next day, drain the beets and transfer to a bowl. (You can reserve the marinade to use again; store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.) Add the soy sauce and sesame oil to the beets and toss well.

  2. For the Rice Bowls:

    Step 4

    Toss the diced carrots and sweet onion together in another bowl.

    Step 5

    Divide the beets, rice, seaweed salad, and carrot-onion mix among four shallow bowls, arranging them in separate piles so that the colors and textures really stand out. Sprinkle the rice with the furikake and sliced scallions and serve.

The cover of the cookbook featuring the author smelling a fistful of baby carrots, just plucked from the ground.
From Vegetables Unleashed: A Cookbook © 2019 by José Andrés. Reprinted with permission by Anthony Bourdain/Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.
TagsRice BowlGrain BowlHawaiianAmericanBeetRoot VegetableVegetableRiceRice & GrainsMainLunchDinnerDairy FreeVeganVegetarianEasyPickle & PreserveHarper CollinsCookbooks

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
Fufu
Fufu is a dish that has been passed down through many generations and is seen as a symbol of Ghanaian identity and heritage. Making fufu traditionally is a very laborious task; this recipe mimics some of that hard work but with a few home-cook hacks that make for a far easier time.
Charred Vegetable Ragù
This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!
Smoky Tofu Shakshuka
This vegan version of the classic North African scramble uses soft silken tofu instead of eggs without any sacrifice of flavor.
Kimchi Gim Bugak (Fried Seaweed Chips)
Bugak is the ideal light beer snack: It’s crunchy, salty, and the fresher it’s made, the better. Thin sheets of kimchi add an extra spicy savory layer.
Gigante Beans With Seaweed Salmoriglio
Salmoriglio is a Mediterranean sauce with herbs, garlic, and olive oil. In this version, kelp is used as the base of the sauce.
Crispy Oyster Mushroom Skewers With Bok Choy Salad
Oyster mushrooms are a strong all-rounder in the kitchen, seeming to straddle both plant and meat worlds in what they look and taste like when cooked. Here they’re coated in a marinade my mother used to use when cooking Chinese food at home—honey, soy, garlic and ginger—and roasted until golden, crisp, and juicy.
Grape Dumplings
Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.
Black Rice Pudding
Turn inky black rice into a dreamy coconut milk pudding you’re fully authorized to enjoy for breakfast or dessert.