If you're a lover of sushi then you're also a lover of Pokē. It commonly consist of cubed pieces of raw ahi (tuna) or aku (dark meat brother of ahi) and smothered with various seasonings. Its' most simplest form is just raw ahi/aku, Hawaiian sea salt, limu (seaweed) and sometimes small amounts of inamona (roasted and crushed kukui nut, also known as candlenut), however, there are numerous other meats you can use for it.
A word of caution about consuming inamona: Because I don't want to be responsible for for someone carelessly eating inamona, please make sure that your inamona was prepared properly. Eating raw kukui nut is highly toxic and may cause nausea, violent vomiting and stomach cramps. For those of you who don't know what kukui nuts are, it's the same nut that we use to make lei's, as pictured below.
I've been eating pokē ever since I can remember. The only difference now is that there are so many more varieties of Pokē that it's so hard to choose which one to eat. And the price makes it even more difficult, at $10-$17 per pound. The picture on the right shows just how many varieties there are in just a small section. And the prices depicted are from a couple of years ago, so don't expect to get that price now days!
Typically, pokē is served at just about any damn event you can think of in Hawaii. Birthdays, BBQ's, fishing/camping trips, weddings, kanikapila's (Hawaiian jam sessions) and many more. Us Hawaiians will make up any excuse to eat pokē, or to just EAT! ;) Sometimes pokē is served in platters and sometimes just in individual containers. Checkout the pictures below for some of the different ways I've had it.
My personal favorite, store bought, pokē is from a popular island supermarket called Foodland. Their ahi shoyu pokē is by far one of the best I've ever had. It has a perfect mix of onions, green onions, ahi and a homemade shoyu (soy sauce). The shoyu is salty and sweet at just the perfect mix to not be called a teriyaki sauce but still make a damn good compliment to the pokē. Every time I make a trip back home, I stop by Foodland to get my pokē fix. It's not only really good, it's really cheap in comparison to other places. For the more adventurous eaters, not that I'm not adventurous, there are places like "Da Pokeman Fish Market" in Wahiawa, Oahu, Tamura's Market, Tanioka's and several other places with huge selections of different types of pokē. Another favorite of mine is Tako (pronounced like a Mexican taco) pokē. It's roughly the same as ahi pokē but they use octopus instead.Most pokē recipes are relatively easy and highly customizable. Try this ridiculously complicated recipe and tell me how you think:
Ahi Pokē
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs ahi, sliced to 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 white onion, sliced to strips
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 Tb. Hawaiian sea salt
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 tsp. chili flakes (optional)
- 1 Tb. sesame seeds (optional)
Preparation:
- In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients. Serve or cover and refrigerate.
See how hard it was? If you had a hard time with this recipe, I don't know what to say. . . except hahaha!!! Seriously though, it's that simple and that good! One thing I want to add is that if you make pokē, it's best with Hawaiian sea salt. You may think that sea salt is the same no matter where it comes from, but that's not exactly true. There are different elements in the different waters around the world, causing different salts to taste different. Of course Hawaiian sea salt isn't exactly easy to come by, but if at all possible, use it! The picture on the right is my goto brand and you can find it in most Filipino, Japanese, or almost any other Asian markets in your area. I brought some home on the airplane once and my check-in luggage got ransacked by TSA because of it, but they let me keep it. Just be careful though!Throughout history, the Hawaiian culture has contributed much to the world. Think "surfing." Our passion for food has also made an impact to many so good that I recently found out that there is a couple of pokē shops in Las Vegas and since I was in the area, I had to get some!
Around late April there was a Pure Aloha Festival in Las Vegas that I attended with my roommate, girlfriend and girlfriends parents. A couple of my most favorite Island Reggae bands were scheduled to play and it just so happened to be my girlfriends birthday weekend, so why not, right? We had a blast and even met up with my hanai sister, Tihanai, and her husband, Ben, both of which are from the Bay Area but flew in for the festival. During our weekend in Vegas we decided to eat at a bunch of places, buffets and try out at least one of the pokē shops.
On the first day of the festival we stopped at Hawaiian Style Poke, just down the street from the festival. Uncle and Aunty were extremely cool people and made all the pokē to order, keeping it as fresh as possible. Normally pokē is prepared in bulk and ready to eat but since the demand isn't the same in Vegas as it is in Hawaii, you get fresher pokē but have to wait just a tad bit longer. And that's not to say there was a long wait, because there wasn't. Plus, Aunty and Uncle were from my hometown so we got to chat it up for a while, or wala'au as we say in Hawaii. We ended up buying 2 large containers of Ahi and Tako pokē, in addition to 3 poke bowls, which we later snuck into the festival. They even had Hawaiian Sun drinks, which are my absolute most favorite drinks on earth! It was so good that by the time I took a picture of it, half of the pokē was already eaten. Just to be eating local food, surrounded by local people, listening to local style music, and have my friends there with me was amazing!
On the second day of the festival, we went back to Hawaiian Style Poke and got even more pokē that we also snuck back into the festival. I think we made pigs of ourselves because even random people were giving us weird looks. . . Proof is in the pic to the right. Checkout the lady in pink watching my roommate and I eat! Hahaha, she wasn't the only one either. We had also bought a ton of food from the booths at the festival, so our table was ridiculously full of food at all times. That's just how we do it though. Like they say in Hawaii, "Eat til' it hurts." And trust me, we do!
Another awesome thing that happened was I met some extended family that I never knew I had and most of all I got to see my nephew, Jamin Tayaba, who moved to Vegas and trains in MMA. How awesome is that? Jamin is an up and coming fighter who dedicates almost his entire life to training. Ever since he was a kid he was a knuckle head, so it only make sense! He's the lil guy in the pic to the right but do not, I repeat, DO NOT underestimate him. He's like one of those lil red firecrackers that don't seem that dangerous, until if blows your finger off! ;)
By the way, if you need a great Realtor, Referring Travel Agent, Promotor or Event Organizer, check out Tihanai at www.tihanai.com! She does everything and is amazing at it! =)
All in all it was an amazing trip filled with TONS of food, awesome company, and great music! Best of all, I had freshly made pokē, IN VEGAS!!!!!! =)
Goes to show how much Hawaii's cuisine has made an impact in the world! Give it a try and tell me your thoughts!!
Peace & Poi,
Dis Hungry Hawaiian
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