Yesterday Bon Appetit posted an article on their website entitled “Meet Poké, the Hawaiian Raw Fish Dish Having Its Moment in the Sun.” Upon reading the headline, the word Poké made me smirk as I thought, since when does poke have an accent mark?
I’ll try not to do a re-gurg of the BA article. The word poke (pronounced poh-keh) is Hawaiian and means “to slice or cut crosswise into pieces.” Contemporary poke is a raw seafood salad made with raw Ahi (tuna) marinated in a variety of ingredients, such as soy sauce, sesame oil, onions. You’ll find poke across all the islands at the local grocery store, fish markets, and restaurants. Our routine would be to get some poke, rice, and ice cold beer and head to the beach. We often grab some poke at the fish markets or grocery stores, where they’re packed in clear deli containers.
Whenever we’re in Hawaii (which almost seems like it’s an annual trip), eating poke is always on our itinerary. A few spots we head to:
Big Island
Da Poke Shack in Kailua-Kona, and now in Captain Cook, has the best poke on the island. During our recent trip, we probably ate there 3 days in a row. We recommend getting the Poke Bowl, a scoop of rice, 1/3 lb of poke, and a side.
Wet Hawaiian Poke @ Da Poke Shack in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Kauai
Depending if you’re on the north shore or the south, we’ve got two recommendations: Kilauea Fish Market and Koloa Fish Market.
Poke at Kilauea Fish Market in Kauai
Oahu
Whole Foods Kailua has excellent poke. They have a good selection, so if you can’t decide which one to get, ask for a sample or two. Make sure you have your cooler bag to stock up. It’s so good!
Uncle’s Fish Market in Honolulu serves a Poke Tower (above) which layers fresh ahi poke with guacamole and ahi tartare topped with masago and thin strips of nori served with tortilla chips.
As for the mainland, we’ve only tried a few places. Worth noting are Leilani Cafe in San Diego, Nobu NYC, and Oceanaire in Hackensack, NJ.
We’ll check out the list that BA provided. @Noreetuh – we’ve got our eyes on you.
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