Hawaiian Poke Party - Adventures of Carlienne

For Mother’s Day I wanted to do a poke party for my mom! She loves poke so it was a no brainer. Poke is a very simple and easy dish to make, but on the mainland it’s incredibly hard to find really good quality ahi tuna or sushi grade fish unless you have a brick and mortar restaurant or a reputable seafood purveyor. Luckily for me and my Restaurant Depot (RD) card, I am able to get a 3lb slab of ahi tuna but the only downside, which to me is a big downside, is that it is frozen.

I know there are places for me to get ahi tuna like Costco or even our local asian market but Costco doesn’t label their ahi tuna as sushi grade so I wouldn’t feel comfortable making poke out of it or consuming it raw. Also, Costco butchers tend to really mishandle the ahi resulting in poorly cut steaks, sinew spread all over the meat just poor handling but good enough for cooked ahi dishes. Our local asian market has sushi grade raw fish but sometimes the date on them is suspect as it says to “sell by” versus a “packed on” or a date of when it was received because for the best poke you can possibly make you want the freshest ones, so although it is sushi grade you just don’t know when it came in or how long it has been sitting there. To be safe we go with the less desirable but safer frozen kind from RD and make the best poke I can out of it that will have me dreaming of the islands!

Materials

(3) Bowls for mixing poke
Cutting board and knife*
Tablespoons for mixing and measuring

*Pro Tip: Your knife should be extremely sharp to cut the ahi tuna without tearing it up and making tuna mush.

Shoyu Poke Ingredients

1 lb Ahi Tuna – Fresh Raw Sushi Grade if you can find it – Diced
2 Tbsp Shoyu Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Pinch Hawaiian Salt
2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
2 Tbsp Chopped Green Onions/Scallions
1/4 Cup Sliced Red Onions
1/2 Cup Ogo/seaweed if you can get it (optional)
1 Pinch Toasted Sesame Seeds for Garnish

California Roll Poke Ingredients

1 lb Ahi Tuna – Fresh Raw Sushi Grade if you can find it – Diced
2 Tbsp Mayo, Kewpie Mayo would be best
1 Tbsp Shoyu Soy Sauce
1 Cup Shredded Real or Imitation Crab – More if you prefer
1/4 Cup Quarter Sliced Cucumbers – You can cut to your preference
1/2 Diced Avocado
1 Tbsp Tobiko optional
1 Sprinkle Furikake
Curled Green Onions for Garnish – Cut Green onions in thin strips lengthwise and place in ice water for at least 30 minutes

Spicy Mayo Ingredients

1 lb Ahi Tuna – Fresh Raw Sushi Grade if you can find it – Diced
2 Tbsp Mayo, Kewpie Mayo would be best
1 Tbsp Spicy Sauce – Sriracha is fine or your own homemade sauce – more if you want spicier
1/8 Cup Diced Cucumbers
2 Tbsp Chopped Green Onions/Scallions
1/4 Cup Sliced Red Onions
1 Pinch Red Pepper Flakes for Garnish

All these measurements are just a base you can use so add more of something if you like it! If you like more mayo or more crab then add more. If you want a sweeter shoyu poke, add a little sugar. Be creative and explore!

Guide

Shoyu Poke: Combine all ingredients except for garnish and diced ahi. Give the sauce a good mix before adding ahi tuna.
California Roll Poke: Add all ingredients except avocado, garnish, and ahi. Give the sauce a good mix before adding ahi tuna and avocado. Fold in avocado so you don’t smush it.
Spicy Mayo Poke: Add all ingredients together except garnish and ahi tuna. Give the sauce a good mix before adding ahi tuna.
For all: let marinate for at least 30 minutes then plate and garnish.

Make sure to eat your poke within the same day. If you end up with leftovers, we recommend cooking any remaining poke off and that will help keep for an extra day or so.

Try it with:

Instead of ahi tuna use different seafood like salmon, mussels, crab, hamachi, or scallops. You can even use octopus which is called tako poke, that’s a fun name!
Try different seaweeds in your poke or other ingredients like edamame or corn.

Tools Used To Make This Dish*

*I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.