Food You Can Eat: Hawaiian Ahi Poke

My family’s favorite thing to do when we go back to Hawaii is get fresh Ahi Poke.  You can’t beat it but you can try to make it. First off, it is pronounced Po-Kay not Pokey!  This is super easy to make but does work best with a few ingredients that may be harder to find in some areas than others.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 to 2 lbs fresh or flash frozen (then thawed) Ahi (Tuna steaks)
• ½ a sweet onion, cut in small bite sized pieces
• 2 to 3 green onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
• ½ cup soy sauce (I prefer Aloha low salt)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Sambal or similar chili paste
• 1 teaspoon Hawaiian Alaea sea salt (you can use other sea salt)

Directions:

Cut Ahi into small bite sized cubes.

Mix all other ingredients except salt in Tupperware or other container with tight fitting lid.

Mix in Ahi, sprinkle with salt, mix together and cover container.

Marinate in fridge for at least an hour, shake periodically to make sure all fish gets marinated well.

Add sesame seeds or Furakake or Wasabi to change things up if you get bored with this (you won’t).  The original Hawaiian Poke had Ogo, a seaweed that is really hard to find outside of Hawaii but if you can, give it a try.

Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer or with rice and veggies as a meal (Poke Bowls are trendy).  My family also likes to roll it with rice in Nori to make Poke Burritos.  Since you are using raw fish you need to eat it within about 24 hours.  If we have any left after that we flash fry it in a pan and it is equally delicious but don’t overcook.

When something is delicious in Hawaii you say “broke da mouth”.  Enjoy!