Ahi Poke
The past few months I’ve been trying to make our dinners a little healthier. While I’ve been making meals from scratch forever, you need to do more than just copy a recipe. The ingredients you use are also very important. As you all know, I try to get the freshest ingredients from produce to proteins. Sure, it’s more expensive, but honestly, can you put a price on your health? After the past year, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s nothing more important than your health because if you’re sick, it doesn’t matter how much time or money you have.
Well, one of the healthiest things to eat is seafood. So, a few months ago I started incorporating fish into our weekly meals. Don’t get me wrong, I still eat plenty of chicken, pork and meat, but now we’ve added fish to our menu. When it comes to seafood there are so many options from fish to shellfish. While my boys will eat shrimp like there’s no tomorrow, they can’t agree on fish. A likes white fish, while T likes red. So, I’ve started alternating weeks. But every so often I’ll make a seafood dish the whole family agrees on. Once a month I make ahi poke.
While my boys can be quite picky about some things, they do happen to love sushi. So, poke is kind of a no brainer. See, poke is usually raw tuna that’s chopped up and tossed with soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, green onions and seaweed. It’s super easy to make and one of the healthier meal choices out there. I love making it because it’s absolutely delicious, there’s barely any cleanup and it takes literally no time. I can throw together a big bowl of poke in about 15 minutes and it’s devoured about 20 minutes later. As a matter of fact, the hardest thing about poke is making the little wontons to spoon the poke onto. If anyone out there knows where (or if) premade wonton chips exist, please let me know as I hate frying up those little pancakes.
I know soy sauce and rice aren’t the healthiest ingredients out there but as long as you keep the measurements small, you should be fine. It doesn’t take a lot of soy sauce, vinegar or oil to make the perfect poke marinade. Trust me when I tell you a little goes a long way. As a matter of fact, the most important thing to remember when making poke is not to leave it sitting in the marinade for too long. See, the fish soaks up the sauce and if it sits too long, the poke just doesn’t taste as fresh. I try to serve my poke 15 to 30 minutes after I toss it together. I know there are some recipes out there that say to let it sit for an hour or two, but I’ve done this and it isn’t nearly as good as when I serve it immediately after tossing it together. While we all love the poke over rice or on its own, my favorite way to eat it is on those little fried wontons. I know they’re not that healthy, but the added crunch really elevates the dish. Plus, my boys love them!
If you’re squeamish about preparing poke at home, I can tell you there’s nothing to worry about. As long as you trust your fish vendor, you’ll be fine. But that’s really the most important thing. Since raw fish is the main ingredient in this dish, you want to trust the store you get your fish from. I never buy fish from the grocery store because I don’t know how long it’s been sitting there. I only buy fish from the local seafood shop and I always make sure it’s sushi-grade which means it’s safe to eat raw.
Because this is a raw seafood dish, you want to make just enough to finish. Poke definitely isn’t something you want to eat the day after. This is one of the few dishes, I always buy the same day I’m going to make it. There are so many ways to get sick, the last thing I want is food poisoning and two-day (or god forbid three-day) old raw fish is the quickest way to end up spending a night in the bathroom. Nobody wants that. But don’t worry, as long as you trust your seafood vendor, the odds of getting sick from poke is very, very small, which is why I make it so often.
My favorite thing about poke isn’t how easy it is to make, how healthy it is or how tasty. My favorite thing about the dish is that there’s no wrong time to serve it. It’s great for lunch, as an appetizer or as the main event at dinner. While it’s obviously great during the summer because it’s so light and chilled, it can also be enjoyed in the spring, winter and fall. No matter when or how you serve it, poke will always going to be a hit (as long as you like raw fish).
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh, raw ahi tuna, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 green onions, white and pale green parts chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1-1/2 tablespoons nori (optional)
Instructions
- Place chopped tuna in a large bowl.
- Whisk soy sauce, vinegar and oil together in a small bowl.
- Add soy sauce mixture, onions, sesame seeds and nori (if using) to fish and toss together until fish is coated. Serve over rice or on wontons with chopped cucumbers and avocado.
