Miso Beetroot Poke Bowl

A delicious veggie take on the traditional poke bowl, this Miso Beetroot Poke Bowl is extracted from Kathy Slack’s “From The Veg Patch” recipe book.

Many ingredients, but not much bother. The only real effort is in the sushi rice, which has a reputation for being tricky, but this method, which I was taught at chef school, has never failed me. Once the rice and the beetroot are dressed (both of which can be done in advance), it’s really just a matter of adding the embellishments. And do bother with all the baubles – nori sprinkles, spring onions, peanuts, shichimi togarashi – they all help to bring out the earthy sweetness of the beets.

INGREDIENTS – Serves 2
13⁄4 hours
450g whole, raw beetroots
175g sushi rice
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp Japanese brown rice vinegar
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp shichimi togarashi
1 avocado
1⁄2 lime
2 spring onions, sliced
30g unsalted peanuts, chopped 1 tsp nori sprinkles
FOR THE MISO DRESSING
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp dark brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp white miso paste
4 tsp lime juice
1 tsp mirin
2 tsp Japanese brown rice vinegar
2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sunflower oil

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7. Wrap each beetroot in foil, place them on a baking tray and roast for 11⁄2–3 hours, depending on the size of your beetroots, or until they put up no resistance to a skewer inserted into their middles. Unwrap the parcels, then, once cool enough to handle, peel and chop into chunks. You can do this ahead of time or while you make the rest of the dish.

For the miso dressing, just mix everything together in a bowl and then pour it over the warm beetroot chunks.

Wash the sushi rice in a bowl of cold water. Drain in a sieve and repeat at least two more times until the washing water is clear. After the final drain, put the rice in a saucepan with 225ml water and a pinch of salt, clamp the lid on and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat right down and set a timer for 13 minutes. Do not lift the lid, though it’s very tempting, or you will lose the steam, which cooks the rice.

After 13 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes. That lid will start to look really enticing, but stay strong until the 10 minutes is up, at which point you can remove the lid – hurray – and tip the rice onto a baking tray. Mix the mirin and brown rice vinegar together, then pour it over the hot rice and toss, spreading the rice out all over the tray as you do so. This helps it to cool quickly.

Mix the mayonnaise with the shichimi togarashi in a small bowl. Halve, stone, peel and slice the avocado and squeeze a splash of lime juice over to keep it from browning (keep some lime intact for
serving).

To assemble, divide the rice between 2 bowls, then tumble the miso beetroot on top. Add half a sliced avocado to each bowl and dollop a spoonful of the mayonnaise on the side.

Finish with the spring onions, peanuts and nori sprinkles, and offer a chunk of the remaining squeezed lime on the side.