All About Poke

A local Hawaiian lets us in on her regional poke and her favorite sauces and mix-ins to serve with the ahi tuna.
By Lauren Cosgrave

Poke (pronounced po-kay) is a Hawaiian specialty that I wish was available on the mainland. The tremendous amount of high quality ahi tune that is available in Hawaii, even in the supermarkets, can’t be compared to anywhere else.

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Poke is fresh, raw ahi tuna marinated in various combinations of asian sauces, seaweed, roe, onion and seasoning. My favorite is spicy poke that is coated in mayonnaise, chili paste and fish roe. I know mayonnaise and raw fish don’t sound like a good combination but trust me…it is delicious.

In Hawaii you will find chilled cases filled with overflowing containers of many different types of poke. I also love that marinated tofu is normally available so that you can make a flex meal with just a little fish. The tofu in these pictures was marinated in soy sauce, onion and sea asparagus.

Sea asparagus, although it can grow almost anywhere, is a herb that I have only seen in Hawaiian farmer’s markets. It has many other names but my favorite is sea pickle. It kind of tastes like that too. It’s crunchy, watery and tastes like the salty sea. It grows in marshes and coastal regions.

So I can’t take any credit for a recipe here. The poke in the pictures is all store bought and then I made the rice at home. Tamura’s is my favorite place for poke in Kaneohe.