There are as many versions of the bowl of deliciousness as there are cooks in Hawai’i. And honestly, nothing beats enjoying a bowl of Poke on Waikiki Beach, unless of course,  you happen in to Ono Seafood on O’ahu.  Even so, I was able to find some of the more common additions to Poke and decided that, since it wasn’t likely I’d be able to get back to O’ahu in time for dinner, I’d give it a run here at home.  

A suggestion: if you’re looking for a recipe, look for ones that originate with Hawai’ian chefs.  Here’s one I found from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt on Serious Eats.

Ingredients

• 3 teaspons (about 1g) dried wakame (I found this at Wegmans)
• 1 teaspoon (about 0.5g) dried hijiki (also at Wegmans)
• 12 ounces (340g) raw sashimi-grade tuna, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 ounces (85g) sweet onion, such as Maui or Vidalia, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon (about 3g) white or black sesame seeds, or a mix
• 4 teaspoons (20ml) soy sauce, more or less to taste
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) toasted sesame oil, more or less to taste
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) honey, more or less to taste
• Crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
• Kosher salt
• Steamed rice (if eating as a meal)

Method

Place wakame and hijiki in separate small bowls. Cover with boiling water and let rest until rehydrated and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and press with paper towels. Roughly chop wakame. Add wakame and hijiki to a large bowl.

Add tuna, onion, scallion, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and optional crushed red pepper to bowl. Season with a small pinch of kosher salt and gently fold to combine. Taste and adjust with more soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, or crushed red pepper as desired. Let sit 5 minutes at room temperature, then serve on its own or on top of steamed rice.

I garnished ours with seaweed salad (purchased at the sushi bar of Wegmans), ginger, sesame seeds and a bit of chopped macadamia nuts.

Serves 4.