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Travel Intentionally
Helumoa Playground at the Royal Hawaiian
Destinations / GO EATS
mayonnaise — and poke diversified, becoming
as mixed and varied as the islands’ multicul-tural landscape has. Poke remains a staple
because it’s simple, filling, balanced, portable
and versatile and takes advantage of Hawaii’s
access to the freshest of fresh fish. As fishing
techniques improved (and as nearshore reef
fish declined with the rise of tourism), big
pelagics like ahi (yellowfin tuna), ono (wahoo)
and billfish replaced reef fish as the central
element in modern poke. Alongside those
standbys you’ll often find smoked or boiled
tako (octopus), scallops, mussels, crab, shrimp
and, it is this writer’s grim duty to report, tofu.
If you’re a poke virgin on your way to
Hawaii, start with the gateway poke: ahi
shoyu — yellowfin tuna with sea salt, sliced
onion and scallion, typically dressed in soy
sauce and sesame oil. Be sure the ahi is fresh;
previously frozen fish might be fine for the
seasoned poke eater, just as someone introduced to beer through microbrew ale could
probably stomach a Budweiser in a pinch.
From there move on to the spicy ahi, which
is usually marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil,
mayonnaise and Sriracha and dappled with
crunchy orange pebbles of tobiko (flying fish
roe). If you’re really hungry, try a poke bowl
— the above-mentioned preparations spread
over white or brown rice, like chirashi sushi.
These days poke is every where in Hawaii:
wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam at supermarkets or built into delicate, layered towers
capped with microgreens at Alan Wong’s in
Honolulu, which means you’ll find superior
Opener: Da Poke
Shack. This page
from top: Poke
Poke Bowls.
This ‘Hawaiian sashimi,’
early Polynesians.
