Tuna Mayo Deopbap (Korean Tuna Rice Bowl)

5 from 35 votes

Tuna Mayo Deopbap (Korean Tuna Rice Bowl)

A quick and easy, 15-minute tuna mayo rice bowl (Deopbap) recipe made with garlic butter, tuna, vegetables over a bed of rice & drizzled with mayo & sweet soy sauce.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Korean

Servings: Bowls

Calories: 785kcal

Author: Joyce Lee

Ingredients

½ Cucumber (¼ cucumber per bowl)
1 Avocado (½ avocado per bowl)
3 cups Cooked Rice (1½ cups per bowl)

Garlic Butter Tuna

2 cloves Garlic
3 tablespoons Salted Butter
1 can Tuna (170g)
1½ tablespoons Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise
Salt (to taste)

Sauces

1 tablespoon Unagi (Eel) Sauce (Thin out with 1 tablespoon of water. *See Notes for Substitutions)
Sriracha Chili Sauce (Optional)
Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise

Toppings/Garnishes (Pick and Choose Any Combination)

Green Onions
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Furikake (Homemade Furikake Recipe)
Roasted Seaweed Snacks (Crushed into small flakes)

Instructions

Make the Garlic Butter Tuna

Peel and finely mince the garlic cloves.
Melt butter on medium-low heat in a pan. Add minced garlic and brown it for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Do not overcook, it's still cooking when you turn off the stove. Set aside to cool.
Open a can of tuna and drain it. Set it into a bowl.
Add the cooled garlic butter, mayonnaise and, a dash of salt to the tuna and mix well. Set aside (Make sure the butter has cooled before mixing it with the tuna else the heat will bring out the fishiness of the fish.)

Prepare the Vegetables

Remove the seed from the avocado and chop it into small pieces.
Cut the cucumber into small pieces and set aside
(Optional) If you are using green onions, finely chop them and set it aside

Make the Eel Sauce

In a small bowl, mix the eel sauce with water to thin it out. Set it aside

Assemble the Rice Bowl

Add approximately 1½ cups of cooked rice into a bowl. If you are using leftover rice from the fridge, microwave it first and let it cool a bit before adding ingredients on top.
Put some avocadoes and cucumbers on top of the rice
Scoop some garlic butter tuna and place it on top of the vegetables
Drizzle everything with eel sauce, mayonnaise
Pick a few toppings (green onions, sesame seeds, furikake, crushed seaweed snacks) and sprinkle them on top of the sauce
Enjoy!

Notes

Japanese mayo really makes this dish. I prefer it over standard mayonnaise because of the extra umami that the msg provides. You can definitely still use regular mayonnaise as well, but try not to use Miracle Whip – it has a sweeter flavor and less of a buttery flavor. Alternatively, you can also try it with my spicy Sriracha mayo recipe, if you want a spicy kick to this rice bowl.
You can also substitute tuna with other canned fish such as canned salmon or sardines in oil for this recipe
I like to use sushi rice for the recipe, but you can also use jasmine rice as well.
If you want to spice up the cucumber for this rice bowl, you can also use the cucumber to make a quick and easy 5-minute Korean cucumber salad (Oi Muchim).
If you don't have unagi (eel) sauce you can also make your own quick and easy sweet soy sauce mixture by dissolving 1 ½ teaspoon of sugar (or honey) with 3 teaspoons of hot water and then adding 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to it.
Alternatively, if you don't have unagi (eel) sauce, you can substitute it for gochujang. Gochujang will be a bit sweeter and spicier but will still make a delicious sauce.
If you plan to pack it for work for lunch, prepare everything ahead of time and store the rice and tuna/avocados/cucumbers separately in the fridge. In the morning, heat up the rice in a microwave and then let it cool slightly. Assemble it in your lunch container once the rice is slightly cooled, add in the veggies, tuna, and sauces and you’re set for lunch – no heating required to eat it! It’s important to make sure the rice is not hot to the touch before adding in the tuna because heat will bring out the fishy smelly of the fish.

Nutrition