Poke (Hawaii)

For other uses, see Poke (disambiguation).

Tako (octopus) poke with tomatoes, green onion, maui onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, sea salt, and chili pepper

Poke with ahi (yellow-fin tuna), green onions, chili peppers, sea salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, roasted kukui nut (candlenut), and limukohu seaweed, shown here served on a bed of red cabbage

Poke (English pronunciation: /poʊˈkeɪ/) is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. Pokē is the Hawaiian verb for "section" or "to slice or cut".

Ingredients

Modern poke typically consists of cubed ʻahi (yellowfin tuna) sashimi marinated with sea salt, a small amount of soy sauce, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper. Other variations' ingredients may include cured heʻe (octopus), other types of raw tuna, raw salmon and other kinds of sashimi, sliced or diced Maui onion, furikake, hot sauce (such as sambal olek), chopped ʻohiʻa (tomato), tobiko (flying fish roe), ogo or other types of seaweed, and garlic.

The selection of condiments has been heavily influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines.

History of poke

The traditional Hawaiian poke consists of fish that has been gutted, skinned, and deboned. It is sliced across the backbone as fillet, then served with traditional condiments such as sea salt, seaweed, and limu. Some Hawaiians would suck the flesh off the bones and spit out the uneaten skin and bones. During the 19th century, recently introduced foreign vegetables such as tomatoes and onions were included, and now Maui onions are a very common ingredient.

According the food historian Rachel Laudan, the present form of poke became popular around the 1970s. It used skinned, deboned, and filleted raw fish served with wasabi (Japanese green horseradish) and soy sauce. This form of poke is still common in the Hawaiian islands.

Similar dishes

Raw fish dishes similar to poke, often served in Europe, are fish carpaccio and fish tartare. Poke should not be confused with raw fish dishes such as ceviche, Boquerones en Vinagre, ika ota, or kinilaw, which might use vinegar or citrus juice to denature the fish proteins and tenderize the fish.

See also

• Sashimi
• Cuisine of Hawaii
• Ceviche
• Carpaccio
• Crudo
• Tartare
• Tataki
• Sam Choy
• Hoedeopbap

References

• Laudan, Rachel. The Food of Paradise, University of Hawai'i Press, 1996
• Titcomb, Margaret. The Native Use of Fish in Hawai'i, University of Hawai'i Press, 1972

External links

• History of the poke contest