When we want a fresh and filling Korean meal, one of our favorite choices is a Korean sashimi rice bowl.
In Korea, this type of rice bowl is often called hoe-deopbap. It is made by mixing cooked rice with sashimi or prepared seafood, fresh vegetables, sesame oil, and a spicy-sour sauce. It is a meal, but the combination of seafood, vegetables, rice, and sauce makes each bite different.
For this meal, we made our own version using salmon poke from Costco, spicy nakji, and vegetables from our Calgary garden.
What Is Nakji?
Nakji is a type of small octopus commonly used in Korean cooking. It is different from the large octopus that is often served as a whole seafood dish.
Nakji has a firm but tender texture when it is cooked properly. It is often used in Korean dishes that have strong seasonings, such as spicy stir-fried seafood, soups, hot pots, and seasoned seafood dishes.
One of the things we like about nakji is its texture. It has more bite than salmon, so it gives a different feeling when mixed with soft rice and fresh vegetables.
For this recipe, we used cleaned nakji and boiled it first. After cooking, we cut it into small pieces and mixed it with a simple spicy and sour seasoning.
We did not want the nakji to overpower the salmon poke or the garden vegetables. Instead, we wanted it to add another seafood flavor and a chewy texture to the rice bowl.
Why We Used Nakji with Salmon Poke
A classic Korean hoe-deopbap is traditionally made with a variety of fresh sashimi. However, living in Calgary, it’s not always easy to find fresh raw fish suitable for a sashimi bowl. So, we decided to make our version using ingredients that are readily available around us.
That’s how we ended up choosing Costco salmon poke and our own spicy seasoned nakji (octopus).
The two seafood ingredients had very different textures.
The salmon was soft and rich, while the cooked nakji was firmer and chewy. When mixed with fresh vegetables and warm rice, the difference between the two made the bowl more interesting.
This was also a good way to use what we already had at home.
We did not need to prepare a complicated seafood dish. We simply prepared the nakji, washed and cut our vegetables, and combined everything in one large bowl.
What We Used for Our Korean Sashimi Rice Bowl
We prepared three main parts: spicy nakji, fresh garden vegetables, and salmon poke.
Spicy Nakji
For the spicy nakji, we used:
- 200 g cleaned nakji
- 1 teaspoon Korean red pepper paste
- 1 teaspoon Korean red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Korean soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey or 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped green onion
- A small amount of ground ginger
The nakji we used was already cleaned, so the preparation was simple.
We first cooked the nakji in boiling water.
Once it was fully cooked, we removed it from the water and let it cool enough to handle.
Because we planned to mix it with rice and vegetables, we cut the cooked nakji into pieces about 2 cm long.
Small pieces are easier to mix with rice and vegetables. They also allow the seasoning to spread more evenly.
Making the Spicy Nakji Seasoning
We mixed the Korean red pepper paste, Korean red pepper flakes, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, garlic, green onion, and ground ginger in a bowl.
After mixing the sauce, we let it rest for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Then we added the cooked nakji and mixed everything together.
The seasoning gave the nakji a spicy, slightly sweet, salty, and sour flavor.
Because the nakji would later be mixed with salmon poke, vegetables, rice, and another sauce, we kept the seasoning simple.
We wanted each ingredient to remain noticeable instead of covering everything with one strong flavor.
Fresh Vegetables from Our Garden
The vegetables were an important part of this meal.
We used:
- 20 perilla leaves
- 40 g water parsley
- 1/2 cucumber
- 5 romaine lettuce leaves
- 2 crunchy green peppers
Several of these vegetables came directly from our garden.
We washed all of the vegetables carefully before cutting them.
We cut the perilla leaves, cucumber, and romaine lettuce into thin strips.
The water parsley was cut into pieces about 2 to 3 cm long.
We sliced the crunchy green peppers diagonally.
The different vegetables gave the bowl several textures.
The cucumber and peppers were crisp, the romaine added volume, and the perilla leaves and water parsley added their own fresh flavors.
The perilla leaves were especially good with the seafood.
We grow perilla leaves and water parsley in our Calgary garden, so we often find different ways to use it in Korean meals.
Making a Simple Korean Red Pepper Sauce
We also made a simple spicy-sour sauce to add at the table.
We used:
- 3 Table spoons Korean red pepper paste
- 2 Table spoons vinegar
- 1 Table spoon honey or 1-1/2 Table spoons sugar
We put all three ingredients into a small bowl and mixed them well.
This type of sauce is commonly used with Korean seafood and sashimi rice dishes.
We did not add a lot at the beginning.
The salmon poke and spicy nakji were already seasoned, so too much sauce could make the entire bowl too strong.
Instead, we added more sauce after mixing the rice if we thought it needed more flavor.
Building the Rice Bowl
Once all of the ingredients were ready, we used a large bowl.
We first added the fresh vegetables.
Then we placed the spicy nakji and salmon poke on top.
We added about 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil.
Finally, we added warm cooked rice.
The bowl already looked colorful before we mixed it.
The green vegetables, salmon, nakji, and crunchy green peppers made a nice combination.
We then mixed everything together with the rice.
As we mixed, the seasoning from the salmon poke and nakji spread through the vegetables and rice.
If the flavor was not strong enough, we added a little of the Korean red pepper sauce.
We added it gradually because both seafood ingredients already contained seasoning.
This also allowed each person to adjust the flavor to their own preference.
A Simple Way to Use Nakji at Home
Nakji can be used in many Korean dishes, but we wanted to keep this recipe simple.
We did not stir-fry the nakji with a lot of vegetables or make a separate main dish.
Instead, we cooked it, cut it into small pieces, seasoned it, and used it as one part of the rice bowl.
This method worked especially well because the other ingredients were already flavorful.
The salmon provided a mild seafood flavor, while the nakji had a stronger seasoning and a chewy texture.
The vegetables helped bring the two together.
For anyone who is familiar with salmon poke but has not used nakji before, this is also an easy way to try it.
The nakji does not need to be the main ingredient. A small amount can simply be mixed with rice and vegetables.
If the pieces are too large, they can be difficult to mix with rice and vegetables.
By cutting the cooked nakji into pieces about 2 cm long, we could get a little nakji, vegetable, and rice in the same bite.
The firmer texture of nakji also helped balance the softer salmon.
This is one reason we enjoyed adding nakji to this particular rice bowl.
It was not simply another seafood ingredient. It gave the dish a different texture.
Our Garden Vegetables Changed the Meal
For us, this meal was also about using what was ready in our garden.
We do not grow vegetables only for one recipe.
We like growing vegetables that can be used in many Korean meals.
Perilla is one of our favorite examples.
We can use fresh perilla with meat, seafood, rice, noodles, and many side dishes.
Water parsley is another vegetable that works well in fresh dishes.
When several vegetables are ready at the same time, a large mixed rice bowl is an easy way to use them together.
This is one of the reasons we enjoy growing vegetables in our Calgary garden.
A single harvest can become part of several different meals.
What We Served with the Rice Bowl
We served the Korean sashimi rice bowl with well-fermented cucumber kimchi and a warm Korean soup.
The cucumber kimchi was cool and crisp, which made a nice contrast to the warm rice and seasoned seafood.
The soup added a warm element to the meal.
We liked having something warm alongside the fresh vegetables and seafood.
Together, the rice bowl, cucumber kimchi, and soup made the meal feel like a complete Korean home dinner.
Our Tips for Making This Rice Bowl
There are a few things we recommend based on our experience making this meal.
First, cut the cooked nakji into small pieces.
Pieces around 2 cm long are easy to mix with rice and vegetables.
Second, let the nakji seasoning rest before mixing it with the seafood.
We gave our seasoning about 30 minutes to 1 hour before adding the nakji.
Third, do not add all of the red pepper sauce at once.
Both the salmon poke and spicy nakji already have seasoning. Adding the sauce slowly makes it easier to control the final flavor.
Fourth, cut the vegetables shortly before eating.
Fresh cucumber, lettuce, perilla, and peppers have a better texture when they are freshly prepared.
Finally, mix everything just before eating.
Once the vegetables are mixed with rice and sauce, they gradually become softer.
We prefer to keep the vegetables fresh and crisp, so we prepared everything first and mixed the bowl when we were ready to eat.
Our Korean Sashimi Rice Bowl with Nakji
This was not a completely traditional Korean sashimi rice bowl.
It was our own version based on the ingredients we had available.
We started with Costco salmon poke, made a simple spicy nakji salad, and added vegetables from our Calgary garden.
The salmon was soft, the nakji was firm and chewy, and the fresh vegetables added crunch and aroma.
A little sesame oil and spicy-sour sauce brought everything together with warm rice.
For us, this is one of the enjoyable parts of cooking at home.
We do not always follow a recipe exactly.
Sometimes we start with something convenient from the store, pick a few vegetables from the garden, and make a meal around them.
This time, Costco salmon poke and Korean nakji came together with our garden vegetables to make a large, colorful bowl of rice.
Served with cucumber kimchi and warm soup, it became a simple Korean home meal that we were happy to share at the table.