Sandi or Kathy, what can you tell me about Poke? I just discovered it. In a casual restaurant

J

joe

Well-known member
last month, I had a wrap filled with raw tuna and slaw--delicious!

Last night I was taken to a fancier place and I had it as an appetizer--chopped raw marinated tuna shaped into a log shape, topped with crisped tortilla shavings and garnished with spicy cucumbers. I loved it too.

I googled and got some recipes with soy, ginger and macadamia nuts. I'm remembering more lime than soy, and no nuts.

Any ideas? I'm no sushi chef but I can get good tuna here.

 
Hawaii or the South

Poke is a raw fish salad usually served as an appetizer in Hawaii. Or, in the South, you will find Poke salad which is made from the Spring Pokeweed.

 
The fish salad. Perhaps there's and accent on the E?

But I'd be interested in Pokeweed, too, because I hear it is starting to show up as a weed in California.

 
Poke is one of those things that don't have recipes, you just throw it together....

Everyone has their own version, and no two are alike. However, lime sounds unusual, that sounds more like ceviche.

My hubby is the poke maker at home, and he just usually just throws everything into the mixing bowl. Here's what he usually puts in his, with everything to taste:

Diced ahi
Vertically sliced onion (stays crunchier that way)
Ogo (fresh seaweed)
Hawaiian salt (a very coarse sea salt)
Shoyu
Chili garlic sauce
Ground kukui nut (very little of this)

For me, the Hawaiian salt is key - it doesn't dissolve, and stays crunchy.

I looked in several of my local cookbooks, and most of them don't even have a single recipe for poke. I did find one, but I think you still have to play it by ear:

Ahi Poke from DK's Sushi Chronicles:

Poke Sauce:
1/2 cup shoyu
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sambal
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt

8 oz sashimi grade ahi, finely diced
1/4 cup finely diced Japanese cucumber
1/4 cup finely sliced Maui onion (or any other sweet onion)
2 tablespoons dried wakame, rehydrated in warm water
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions, green part only
1/2 cup kaiware sprouts
2 tablespoons masago (smelt roe)
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

To make poke sauce, combine all ingredients until well blended.

To make poke, in another bowl, combine the ahi, cucumber, onion, wakame, green onions, sprouts and masago. Add enough of the sauce to coat, then toss gently to combine.

Serve immediately.

To me, that recipe sounds like you'll have a ton of sauce, and it's heavy on the sesame oil, I'd reduce that to a tablespoon. The sprouts sounds a little fancier than most, but the cucumbers sounds like a nice addition.

In Hawaii, every supermarket has quite a selection of different kinds of poke, at least 10 different ones. Different kinds of fish, and different sauces.

The most common poke is raw ahi, but you can make poke with so many different kinds of seafood - cooked sliced tako (octopus), raw crab, they even use the same sauces on cubes of tofu, and call it tofu poke.

Beer and poke is standard party fare - you'll find it everywhere, either homemade or store bought.

 
This one sounds good Joe. REC: Ahi Tuna Poke on Won Ton Crisps

Maybe add a little sesame oil to the mix. Let us know what you end up making. That is the one fish that I am able to find at my grocery store.

Recipes from Our Restaurant Chefs

Ahi Tuna Poke on Won Ton Crisps

from the former Billy Quon's in Monterey, California

Ingredients:
8 oz. Ahi Tuna (diced small)
1 tsp. Serrano Chili (minced)
2 ea. Green Onions (diced small)
1 Tbs. Cilantro (chopped)
1 tsp. Fresh Ginger
12 ea. Won Ton Wrappers
1 1/2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
12 tsp. Tobiko Caviar (Flying Fish Roe)

Preparation:
* Combine all ingredients except Won Ton in small bowl and mix thoroughly.
* Cut Won Ton wrappers in half, from corner to corner.
* Deep fry the Won Ton wrappers until golden brown and crispy.
* Place Tuna Mix on Won Ton crisp and serve topped with Wasabi Cream and Tobiko Caviar.

Wasabi Cream
Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Wasabi Powder
3 Tbs. sour cream
2 tsp. Sake or Rice Vinegar
Preparation:

* Mix Wasabi powder with Sake into a smooth paste.
* Add sour cream and mix thoroughly.
* Place into small squirt bottle or place a small amount on top of Tuna Poki.

 
Thanks, Sandi! Perhaps I was wrong about the lime--it would have cooked the fish and made it

opaque. It's only 8:00 AM but you've got me hungry for beer and poke.

 
Bet these would be good with the Tuna Poke. REC: Sesame Wonton Crisps

I made these a ton when I was catering. People LOVED them. I made them with half white and half black sesame seeds for the presentation, and I usually served them with Ina Garten's Peanut Satay Dip, but they're absolutely delicious even on their own. Also, I usually cut them in half on the diagonal to make triangle crisps. (If you do that you can fry 4 or 5 at the same time.)

We like these so much that I keep a bag of the sesame mixture in the freezer in case we get a hankering. smileys/smile.gif

Sesame Wonton Crisps

1 cup sesame seeds, toasted (I like 1/2 white and 1/2 black)
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
5 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 cups vegetable oil
40 won ton wrappers


Stir together seeds, salt, sugar, and cayenne in a small bowl. Stir together water and cornstarch separately.

Heat oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360°F. Brush 1 side of 2 wrappers with cornstarch mixture and sprinkle with seed mixture. Shake off any excess seeds and add wrappers to oil, seeded sides down. Fry, turning over once, until golden, about 10 seconds. (Some seeds will fall off during frying.) Transfer crisps with tongs to paper towels to drain, and continue frying in the same manner.

You can make crisps 2 days ahead and keep in an airtight container at room temperature.

 
My favorite poke is Tako Poke

I buy cooked Tako (baby octopus) and add onion, green sea salad, sesame oil, shoyu and chili paste. Love it.

 
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