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Sushi dinner in 30 minutes? Yes, please.
OkOK, so I know that technically this is not sushi, but it has all the amazing flavors of a spicy tuna roll, just in bowl form! You guys remember yesterday how I mentioned that my younger brother Red is really into sushi? Well, I made these Spicy Brown Rice Seared Tuna Roll Bowls over Christmas in an attempt to try to satisfy Red’s sushi craving. I’m personally all about bowl foods, but I’m not even going to try to sugar coat it, Red was pretty bummed that I didn’t roll them up like a real sushi joint. I also don’t think he was crazy about the seared tuna. But just about everyone else in the house, including myself, fell head over heals for these bowls.
Don’t get me wrong, Red ate them and enjoyed this recipe, but he is all about the real deal sushi. Which is why on Sunday night I finally went for it, and made REAL sushi rolls. I’m talking raw fish, sushi rice, nori and all. If you follow me on Instagram Stories then you saw my three pans of homemade sushi. I have no idea why, but I have a real soft spot for my two younger brothers. They can get me to make them just about anything.
Anyway, the point is that while I did make these bowls before I had ever made actual rolled sushi, I am still whole heartedly in LOVE with this recipe, this is my kind of recipe. Like I said, I love bowl foods, especially when the bowls are colorful and piled high like this one. I can’t get enough.
Side Note: how do you guys feel about making homemade sushi rolls? I’ve been going back and forth in my head about whether I should think up a creative sushi recipe to share with you guys. Would you be into a real deal homemade sushi recipe? Let me know your thoughts!
First things first, I am just not a fan of mayo in any which way. Plus, it’s Healthy January, and mayo just does not cut it as healthy. So, me being me, I had to put my own spin on this spicy tuna bowl. For my spicy sauce I made a “tahini mayo”, which honestly is a million times better than the real thing. It’s simple, delicious, spicy (from the Sriracha) and so easy to mix up. You’re going to love it.
For the bowls themselves, they are a simple mix of brown rice, seared sesame seed crusted tuna, avocado, and veggies. I love searing my tuna in the winter months because I’m all about warm foods. It’s freezing up here, and warm eats are a must. Plus, coating the tuna in sesame seeds and then quickly searing it adds so much flavor. The tuna gets lightly warmed while the sesame seeds get golden toasted…perfection.
The secret to this bowl…the mango chimichurri. I know it sounds kind of odd, but this may just be one of the best sauces I’ve made. It’s salty, sweet, tangy and spicy, perfect for spooning over these bowls. Trust me, you have to try it!
And that’s the bowl, very simple, but SO pretty, SO healthy, SO fast and most importantly…SO freaking good.
I plan to make these again tonight to help get through the Wednesday slump. Speaking of which, how’s everyone’s first week of 2017 going? Mine started off very nicely by taking a few hours off on Monday to finally get out of the kitchen (was going on twelve straight days of cooking and photographing) for a few hours and go snowboarding with my family. I have not gone in years, but it was fun to go with my family, and thankfully I picked it right back up and had so much fun. Hoping to get out one more time this week before my brothers leave. One of the things I want to work on this year is to make it more of a priority to have an actual life outside of work. Taking baby steps, but I’ll get there!
What have you guys been up to this week?
Hoping tonight (or at least some night this week) is going to include these healthy bowls…promise they will make your week bright, fun and delish!
Spicy Brown Rice Seared Tuna Roll Bowl with Mango Chimichurri.
Ingredients
Mango Chimichurri
- 1 mango, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 Fresno chile pepper, seeded + chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- juice of 1 lime
Tuna
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 pound sushi grade tuna
- 1/4 cup black or white sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2-3 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 4 radishes or daikon, sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 4 thinly sliced or crumbled nori sheets
Instructions
Mango Chimichurri
- In a bowl, combine the mango, cilantro, fresno pepper, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and lime juice. Keep stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Tuna
- In a small bowl, stir together the tahini and sriracha. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is smooth and pourable. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Place the tuna on a clean surface and press the sesame seeds gently onto each side of the tuna to adhere.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the sesame oil and when the oil shimmers, add the tuna. Sear the tuna for 1 minute per side. Remove the tuna from the skillet. Let cool slightly, then slice thinly.
- To assemble. Divide the rice among bowls and top with sliced tuna, cucumber, carrots, radishes, avocado, and nori. Serve with the spicy sriracha sauce and the mango chimichurri. Eat!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
For real though, that is one beautiful bowl of color, health food, deliciousness right there.
Overall delicious. As others have mentioned, either double the mango or half the soy/vinegar/oil for the chimichurri. Also found a small squirt (~1/2tsp) really helped balance the flavors. Because the toasted sesame flavor is strong in the chimichurri, opted for a simple salt and pepper crust on the tuna (p.s. would recommend adding salt & pepper even if you do the sesame crust).
The flavor combination is perfect in this recipe. I love the tahini/sriracha mix as a mayo-hater. Thanks, Tieghan!
Hi Anna,
Happy Monday! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for giving it a try! Xx
The entire family loved it!! Bonus was that we had freshly caught tuna!
Thanks so much Leah!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear the dish was a hit! xT
This was delicious! The mango chimichurri was SO GOOD! Will definitely make again – thank you!!
Hi Marci,
Happy Monday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it:) xT
Five stars, even if you have to improvise because you’re in the middle of massive storms here in CA. Glad to have a garden, although soggy, and a well-stocked pantry. I definitely will try this again with all the right ingredients. Delicious!
Hey Kym,
Awesome!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xT
Hi Tieghan,
I’m from Argentina, where chimichurri is a very popular sauce for grilled meat. I want to try your mango version for this bowl 🙂 I’m afraid I can’t find Fresno chile peppers where I live: do you think I can use chili flakes instead? Many thanks!
Hey Jennifer,
Sure, that would work well for you or even jalapeños peppers would work too! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Jalapeños: great idea! I’m happy to be able to try this tuna bowl soon 🙂 We always love your recipes, thanks again!
Awe thanks so much:)
Tried it last week,… It was DELICIOUS!
Thank you Sophie!!
Thank you so much for posting this. I’m going gluten, soy, and dairy free this month as part of an elimination diet and this was perfect. I never would have had the guts to put something like this together at home if I hadn’t seen it on your blog!
Note: I doubled the mango and instead of soy sauce, used part coconut aminos and part fish sauce. I eliminated the cilantro and added scallions instead. And I added roasted broccoli and raw matchstick carrots to the bowl. It was delicious!
Hi Jana! I am so happy you found this recipe and that you enjoyed it! Thank you so much!
One minute? Please correct, if you sear the Tuna for 1 minute it will be cooked through. More like 10 seconds per side.
I like to cook it a little longer. feel free to cook as little or long as you’d like. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I made this tonight with some small variations because of what was available at my grocery store but wow…. this dish was incredible! I also made my own tahini (which was super easy) so I could keep things as “homemade” as I could. Thank you for sharing this recipe and for making being semi pescatarian a whole lot more fun!
Sounds like a lot of fun! Making your own tahini is awesome!
So happy you liked it!! Thank you!
I absolutely love this recipe, it’s become a firm favourite in our house, although my daughters have their tuna raw for added sushi authenticity! The flavours are just fantastic, and it tastes so healthy. I’m becoming a huge fan of your recipes, thanks from me in England for breathing life into my tired repertoire of suppers.
SO happy you and your family like it! The raw tuna is delicious i’m sure!
Thank you so much Jill!
This looks amazing- cant wait to make it tonight!! On another note- where did you get your chopsticks? I love the ones in the picture!
Thank you! I wish I could tell you, but I have add those chopsticks forever. I think I order them on Amazon. Sorry I could not help you more!
Hi Tieghan,
To eat raw tuna don’t you have to buy the sushi grade tuna?
I was told tuna steaks you had to a least sear good and can’t use for sushi.
Was I told wrong?
The sushi bowl looks delicious!!
Thank you for all the interesting and delicious looking pictures of your meals.
Diana
Hey Diana,
Yes, for sushi you need to use sushi grade tuna. This recipe calls for tuna steaks because you are searing them:) Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xx