Simple, savory, and no soy sauce necessary.
Legitimate Hawaiian Poke
Make this traditional Hawaiian poke with the freshest fish you can find, and let the luau begin!Poke originated from native Hawaiian fishermen as a simple way to prepare the day’s catch. The dish is seasoned with ingredients like sea salt, seaweed, and candlenuts, and is eaten raw. This recipe uses sashimi grade tuna, but you can also use yellowtail, cooked octopus, cooked clams, cooked mussels, or salmon.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ogo seaweed, dried (use nori strips or rehydrated wakame seaweed as a substitute)
- 1 lb sashimi grade tuna loin or other sashimi grade fish you would like to eat raw
- 1/4 cup sweet onion, sliced 1/4" thick or red/white onion rinsed under water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil or olive oil
- 2 tsp Hawaiian red sea salt or other salt to taste
- 1 tbsp thin sliced green onion
- 1/4 tsp red chili flakes such as Japanese schichimi pepper (optional for spice)
Directions
- If using dried ogo seaweed, soak in water for about 5 minutes. Drain, squeeze out excess water, and rough chop into 1/4" pieces.
- Cut tuna into 1/2" dice. Be sure to remove any tough white sinew by using a spoon to scrape off the tuna.
- Toss cubed tuna with onion, sesame oil, green onion, sea salt and chili flakes if using. Store for up to 6-8 hours before serving.
Serve over rice, salad greens or corn chips. Avocado is also a must with raw fish.
- Serve over rice, salad greens or corn chips. Avocado is also a must with raw fish.
- You can purchase a premade seasoning packet of dried ogo seaweed and Hawaiian red sea salt.
- This can also be made with yellowtail, cooked octopus/clams/mussels, salmon, or any other sashimi grade fish meant for raw consumption.
- Don’t waste any of the tuna. If the tuna has white sinew bits, scrape away the flesh with a spoon. It doesn’t all have to be in perfect cubes.
- Cheap raw tuna will be gassed with carbon monoxide to retain the pink color. Buy fresh, high quality, non-gassed fish instead.
- This should be eaten the same day but can be made up to 8 hours ahead of time. The salt cures the fish as it sits, so it will improve in flavor over a few hours.
- If you do have some sinew, you can also scrape the tuna off with a spoon and add it to the poke.
