Do the Hokey-Poké

I just returned from a fantastic 10-day trip to Hawaii with my family. We really took advantage of all that the island had to offer. From the crystal clear waters to the incredibly fresh seafood and an actively erupting volcano, we experienced it all.

Hawaii is known for so many delicious products—coffee, Macadamia nuts, pineapple, along with a host of other exotic tropical fruits and an ocean’s worth of the freshest seafood. However, my favorite Hawaiian export (and one that’s been taking the country by storm for the past few years) is poké! This raw fish salad comes in many varieties and can be made with almost any fish, shellfish or even octopus. I first had poké many years ago in Alaska where I was running a marathon. My sister and I went into a local grocery store, saw these giant piles of chopped up fish sitting in the fish counter and ordered a pound each. I think our total was $10 and I’ve been addicted ever since!

poke

While in Hawaii, I ate poké every day (and sometimes twice a day) ordering it at the hotel, restaurants and famous local spots like Da Poke Shack!

dapokeshack

As soon as I got home, I was craving my daily poké fix so I decided to whip up my own! Fortunately, poké is incredibly simple and quick to make and, with endless ways to customize, it can be adjusted to whatever you are craving or whatever you have on hand in your kitchen! Here’s my recipe for traditional Hawaiian Poké.

Hawaiian Poké

1 pound fresh Ahi Tuna, cut into 1 inch cubes

½ sweet white onion, finely diced

¼ cup Ogo seaweed (optional-I omitted it because, although I was able to find it at my local fish market in their “Poké Section,” I had to buy much more of it than I could have eaten)

1 teaspoon roasted Macadamia Nuts, crushed

2 scallions, sliced on the bias

½ tablespoon soy sauce

½ tablespoons Hawaiian salt (I used a Red Hawaiian Alaea salt which gets its red color from Hawaiian clay, but any coarse finishing salt will do the trick.)

pokemise