Shoyu Ahi Poke
It’s difficult to believe that I haven’t lived on O’ahu for almost fourteen years now. I moved to the mainland after I graduated high school but still consider myself an island girl at heart. For the past several years I’ve mostly lived in the midwest so whenever I return to the island to visit my relatives I load up on all of my favorites and am not ashamed to say that I eat poke ALMOST every day. However! Now that I’ve moved to the Pacific Northwest and have a little more trust in my seafood I’ve been making poke at home whenever the craving hits.
Poke bowls aren’t a new concept - the craze swept the nation in the past several years inspiring creativity and color, but where does it come from? Ancient Hawaiians would cut and massage their catch with sea salt, dried seaweed and inamona (made from roasted kukui nut) as a way to naturally preserve fish. But what exactly is shoyu ahi? Ahi refers to either yellowtail or bigeye tuna and shoyu is the broad name for Japanese soy sauce.
This recipe is what I like to call a “base recipe” giving way to creativity and allowing your own spin. As a note, since we’re consuming fish raw remember to use high quality fish and if you don’t like tuna? Feel free to use other types of fish or even mussels and octopus if it suits your fancy.
The best thing about poke beside its versatility? It’s simple and comes together in minutes.
Ingredients:
1lb sushi grade ahi cut into cubes
1/4 yellow onion, thinly sliced (*see note below)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 T Aloha Shoyu or soy sauce
1.5T Rice Vinegar
1T Sesame Oil
1t sesame seeds
*NOTE: It's best to use sweet onion for this recipe however I only had a yellow onion on hand
Mix
In a large bowl combine cubed tuna and sliced yellow onion and gently mix with shoyu, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Sprinkle sesame seeds and green onion. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes covered in the refrigerator
Serve
The poke can be served as is as an appetizer or over a bed of rice if serving as a meal.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @krysten.piano
I’m looking forward to seeing your spin on this base recipe
