Guys, I love me some raw fish. When I first went to Hawaii I was 15 years old and I had this what I called “raw fish salad” and I fell in love! Poke has always been something I really look forward to when I go to the island. In recent years a lot of poke places have popped up here in the mainland (even we at Ninong’s serve up our own version of poke), but none of them that I’ve tried can measure up to the poke I have in Hawaii. Sorry guys! It has to do with the freshness of the fish, the ingredients they have there, etc.
Poke bowls seem to be more of a trend here than it is in Hawaii. They usually just sell poke by the pound and the sides separately as well, but hey, when on the mainland we do as the mainlanders do. 🙂 Poke bowls usually consist of some starch like white/brown rice or quinoa, some kind of side like seaweed salad/edamame/kale, and of course – poke!
If I’m ever in the mood for poke, which is pretty much all the time, I like to make my own at home. So I thought I’d share my recipe with you 🙂
Ingredients for poke:
- Ahi tuna – 1 lb.
- Low sodium soy sauce – 1/4 cup
- Roasted sesame seed – 1 tbs
- Wasabi paste – 1/2 tbs
- Sesame oil – 2 tbs
- Green onion – 1 stalk, diced; set some aside for garnish
- Ginger – 1 tbs, grated
- Wakame (hydrated seaweed/kelp) – 1 small bunch, chopped
- Furikake, optional
- Tobiko or smelt egg, optional
Before we begin, I’d like to mention a couple things. If you’re able to find shoyu soy sauce I highly recommend using it for your poke. It has a unique taste compared to your common soy sauce that is sold here on the mainland and is less salty. Wakame usually comes dry at your local Asian market. Rehydrate it with some luke warm water for about 2-3 minutes. If you don’t plan on eating your poke immediately (I don’t see how you can resist, but you know..whatever lol) you can put it in dry and let it hydrate with the poke. Ok, now that we’re done with that here we go.
- Mix soy sauce, sesame seed, wasabi, sesame oil, and ginger in a bowl.
- Chop your ahi tuna into 1/2″ cubes.
- Add tuna, green onion, and wakame to same bowl and mix until tuna is evenly coated.
Step 1, done! This poke will make 2-3 servings depending on how much poke you like to eat.
Now onto our garlic edamame. It’s really easy!
Ingredients for garlic edamame:
- Edamame (shelled) – 1 cup
- Garlic – 2 tbs, minced
- Olive oil – 1/2 tbs (honestly, you can eyeball this. It’s just to get your garlic golden brown)
- Add garlic and olive oil to a hot pan on medium/low heat.
- When the garlic gets a little sticky (not yet brown) and add edamame.
- Cook edamame until desired texture is met (about 2-3 mins, maybe 4 if frozen) and make sure edamame is coated evenly with garlic. Set aside to let cool for plating.
Step 2, done! This edamame will also yield 2-3 servings.
Assembling your poke bowl
- Add your favorite starch to the bottom of your bowl. If you’re on a low carb diet, I suggest some zoodles. They’re really good with the poke! I like to add quinoa.
- On top of your starch fill half your bowl with your edamame and the other half with poke.
- Finish off your bowl with some furikake (seaweed seasoning), masago or tobiko (fish roe), and the last of your green onion.
- One thing I really want to mention is everything in your poke bowl shouldn’t be too hot. Yes, even your rice/starch. This is because if it’s too hot it will cook your tuna and no one wants that!
Enjoy foodies!
Xoxo,
Kissa
