Smoked Salmon Bowls With Everything Bagel Seasoning

Beth Lee

Easy

Difficulty

With my family’s mixed religious and cultural heritage, you’re just as likely to find us seeking out the best bagels and lox in New York City as searching for the freshest poke in Hawaii.  

This smoked salmon bowl combines some of my favorite elements of both our Jewish and Hawaiian roots and will leave you with a lingering taste of a great bagel brunch.  

Though I love poke with freshly caught fish, smoked salmon is an exciting Jewish twist. Plus, it can be difficult to access sushi-grade raw fish. The everything bagel seasoning stands in for a seaweed mixture called furikake. I also love the color and flavor that pickled red onions and green onions add in; both are a nod to the usual raw onions found in a bagel buffet and a great fresh serving of poke. 

Ingredients for 1 poke bowl

Sushi Rice (optional—can just use plain cooked rice) 

  • 2 cups short grain Japanese rice 
  • 4 Tbsp. rice vinegar 
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar 
  • 1 tsp. salt 

Shoyu Salmon Sauce  

  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce  
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 
  • 1/2 tsp. sesame oil 
  • 1/2 tsp. gochuchang or spicy sauce of your choosing (optional) 
  • 1 tsp. everything bagel seasoning  

Pickled Red Onions 

  • 1 medium red onion, about 1/2 pound 
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar 
  • 1/4 cup water 
  • 1/2 tsp. salt 
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar 
  • 10 peppercorns (optional) 
  • 3 thyme sprigs (optional) 

Everything Bagel Seasoning (or use store-bought) 

  • 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted 
  • 1 Tbsp. Nigella seeds or black sesame seeds  
  • 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds  
  • 2 tsp. granulated onion  
  • 2 tsp. granulated garlic  
  • 1 tsp. Kosher salt or flake salt  

Poke Bowl

  • 12-ounce package smoked salmon cut or torn into bite size pieces  
  • 2 cups Japanese rice, cooked
  • Persian cucumbers, 1 or 2, sliced  
  • 1/2 cup edamame (can use frozen, defrosted) 
  • 1/2 cup corn (can use frozen, defrosted) 
  • 1 avocado, sliced 
  • 1 green onion, sliced 
  • Pickled red onion (see recipe above) 
  • Shoyu (soy) sauce for salmon (see recipe above) 
  • Everything bagel seasoning (use store-bought or see recipe above) 

Prepare the pickled red onions the day before if possible. Prepare the soy sauce-based salmon sauce ahead or as needed 

Directions

Sushi Rice:

  1. Cook rice in rice cooker if you have one.  
  1. Place cooked rice in a flatter bowl and add the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Use a rice paddle or stiff spatula to incorporate the vinegar, sugar and salt using a mixing and chopping motion.  

You can adjust the amount of vinegar, sugar and salt to your liking using these amounts as a guide to approximate proportions. 

Shoyu Salmon Sauce:

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Will last in the refrigerator for several days so feel free to make ahead or make extra. 

Pickled Red Onions:

  1. Slice one medium red onion thinly. Place onion in a jar or glass container. It’s OK if the sliced onion fills the container, they will reduce in size by half once they begin pickling.  
  1. Heat vinegar with salt, sugar, thyme and peppercorns for 60 seconds in microwave to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour mixture over the onions, mix well and let sit at room temp. Initially, the liquid won’t cover the onions but the onions flatten down and the liquid amount is perfect.  
  1. Refrigerate after letting them sit out for half hour to an hour. Shake several times as well. 

Will keep in the refrigerator for 2–3 weeks. 

Everything Bagel Seasoning:

Mix together and store in a cool dry place in a sealed container. 

Poke Bowl:

1. Place the pieces of salmon in a mixing bowl and add a tablespoon or two of the shoyu sauce, some fresh sliced green onions and mix well. 

2. Place rice in the bowl, then add the various elements as haphazardly or artistically as you’d like! 

3. Top with some more bagel seasoning and shoyu sauce as desired. If you have furikake, you could use some of that as well. 

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Beth Lee

In 2010, Beth left her Silicon Valley tech career behind when she realized she preferred pita chips over computer chips. She launched her food blog, OMG! Yummy, and her first cookbook, The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook, came out August 2021. Beth’s blog and book have been featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, the Forward and on many podcasts and blogs. Beth is so glad she can make a New York style bagel in her sunlit kitchen in Northern California.