Do you like sushi? What about sashimi? These are two of the best known Japanese dishes around the world, and for good reason: they taste delicious. I lived in Japan for two years as a missionary for my church, and let me tell you, the Japanese eat well. There was rarely a time that some good sushi or sashimi with rice couldn’t make a good day even better; you just can’t help but feel satisfied after eating a few (or several) quality pieces!

But wait! Isn’t this a blog for Polynesian food? It sure is.

Upon returning to the United States to continue my education, I soon realized that if I wanted to continue enjoying the same quality of taste I had when eating sushi and sashimi in Japan, I would either need a much deeper pocket book or I would need to learn to make these dishes on my own.

I decided on the latter option. In my efforts to find the proper preparation techniques for sashimi, I stumbled upon a recipe for a dish that I soon found to be equally delicious and satisfying: poke.

 

Poke, pronounced “poe-kay,” is a traditional Hawaiian side dish. It’s easy to prepare, and goes particularly well with rice and lau lau. However, it can also be eaten plain. All you’ll need to make it are the following ingredients:

Ingredients:

4 cups of sushi grade tuna, diced (you’ll want the pieces to be bite sized)
½ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced green onion
1 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Season the tuna with some salt

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl

3. Mix well and chill in the refrigerator (I recommend about two hours.)

It’s that simple!

 

This is a simple recipe, but the results are fantastic, and the recipe’s easy to play with depending on personal preferences. For example, some additions to this recipe might be a tablespoon of crushed red peppers or a few tablespoons of finely chopped macadamia nuts. Other variations include small amounts of ginger or garlic. You could also reduce the amount of soy sauce used if you wanted to enjoy a more delicate taste. Feel free to experiment!

As this is a dish that consists of raw fish, do make sure to get sushi grade or frozen tuna so as to avoid any problems, and make sure you allow the fish to marinate in the fridge before eating.

Let me know how it goes, and feel free to post comments with any particular variations of this recipe that you know or discover!

For sources of fresh tuna check these links:

(The Polynesian Cultural Center and Eat Polynesia! Blog do not endorse these sites but simply offer these links for informational purposes. Please do your due diligence and use buyer’s discretion when buying any kind of food product.)

 East Coast:

AlwaysFreshFish.com

West Coast:

SeattleFishCompany.com

Hawaii

HonoluluFish.com

Serve up perfect portions of poke in this 2″ Mini Bamboo Bowl. $7

 

Author Bio

I’m Peter. I grew up in Seattle, but have been living in Hawaii and Japan for the last 4 years. I love traveling; I love learning about different cultures; I love food, and I love my wife. We’re hoping to go to Korea next year, and graduate school the year after that. My life’s the best kind of dream, the one you don’t have to wake up from.

 

 

Image sources 

http://sakuracolorado.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Sakurahabachisushi-0008-sakurasushi-1280×853.jpg

http://kerwel.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/dsc_0348.jpg

http://razorfamilyfarms.com/wp-content/uploads/poke.jpg

http://zesterdaily.com/cooking/hang-loose-with-poke-the-hawaiian-version-of-sushi/