Jeremy Coste’s recipe for poké bowl with chicken

Fried chicken replaces raw fish in this Hawaiian dish, served with a Korean barbecue sauce that brings tenderness and smoky flavours

I wanted to create a poké bowl with a cooked protein and, when well prepared, chicken is extremely tender – a similar consistency to the sashimi-grade fish traditionally used in this Hawaiian dish.

Hawaiian cuisine is heavily influenced by Asia, and using a Korean sauce preparation is delicious. Gochujang paste is versatile and, used lightly, lets the rest of the ingredients in the poké shine through, while adding pan-roasted corn brings both texture and smokiness to the dish.

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

For the rice
500g brown rice

For the Korean barbecue sauce
80g honey
40g sesame oil
10g fresh garlic puree
40g gochujang hot pepper paste
60g soy sauce
20g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
5g roasted sesame seeds

For the chicken
2 free-range chicken breasts
Rapeseed oil

For the garnish
2 cobs of corn
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh coriander leaves
200g blanched edamame beans
½ cup fried onions

Cook the brown rice, ideally in a rice cooker, and let it stand at room temperature.

Combine the honey, sesame oil, garlic puree, gochujang paste, soy sauce, ginger and roasted sesame seeds (keeping some back for the garnish) and mix to make the barbecue sauce.

Using a bread knife, remove the corn kernels from the cobs. Pan fry with a dash of rapeseed oil until golden.

Dice the chicken breast into 2cm pieces. Add a dash of rapeseed oil to a hot frying pan and cook the chicken through until it has a golden colour. Then, remove from the heat and add four tablespoons of the barbecue sauce to the pan to coat the chicken, and put to one side.

To serve, place the rice evenly at the bottom of your bowl. Then place the chicken, red onion, fresh coriander leaves, edamame and roasted corn on top. Add some of the remaining barbecue sauce and finish with fried onions and the remaining roasted sesame seeds.

Jeremy Coste is the co-founder of Ahi Poké