ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060094
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARILYNN MARTER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Some foods have limited appeal, remaining forever ethnic or exotic. Think pickled pigs' feet and poi.
Others catch on quickly, moving beyond bounds of nation or region. Think pate, polenta, pizza.
And now, poke.
That's pronounced ``PO-kay.''
Unlike that other Hawaiian specialty, poi (fermented taro-root paste), poke is an island fish dish typically made salad-style using some form of marinated cubed fish. It has become a part of nouvelle Hawaiian cuisine and is on its way to international recognition as the American alternative to Japan's sushi and sashimi - though poke can be cooked or raw.
Already the trendy choice for West Coast foodies, poke is now being offered at some East Coast restaurants. But like pasta and pizza, it comes in more than one form. It can include other seafood, and, bowing to consumer tastes, some serve it seared or lightly cooked as well as raw.
Chef Sam Choy said the traditional Hawaiian version consists of bite-size pieces of raw reef fish mixed with seaweed (limu) and sea salt (alae), which gets its reddish color from the red clay washed down from nearby mountains. Kukui nuts, grown in the mountains and similar in flavor to sesame seeds, are roasted, crushed to an oily paste and used to flavor poke.
But that traditional poke began to evolve as soon as immigrants arrived in the islands. Now, says Choy, there are pokes with Japanese soy sauce, Korean kim chee, Georgia peanuts, Maryland blue crab and other off-island ingredients.
The versatility of the dish was evident recently at Philadelphia Fish & Co. where Choy - Hawaii's unofficial culinary ambassador - joined owner Kevin Meeker as hosts of a first-time mainland preliminary to the poke-recipe contest begun on the Big Island five years ago. The contest is part of Hawaii's annual Aloha Festivals and draws entrants from around the world.
An Asian-influenced poke - a salad-like mix of curry-seasoned seared fish cubes, seaweed and haupia (creamy coconut gelatin cubes) - won chef Philippe Chin of Chanterelles a spot at the poke finals in Hawaii on Oct. 6. Chin drew on his French and Chinese roots, seeking a balance of ``yin and yang'' for the poke appetizer he features at Chanterelles.
Most Hawaiian pokes, however, are more like the raw tuna-seaweed-avocado combo that chef Jesse Llapitan creates at the Harborside Hyatt Hotel restaurant in Boston. Llapitan mastered island fare at the Grand Hyatt Wailea on Maui and now shares those tastes in New England.
Chef Peter Slavin, another alumnus of the Maui Hyatt's kitchen, makes his version of poke seviche-style with a gin-based marinade. And chef Derek Davis blends the popular Southwestern food style with poke by simply adapting his menu entree of rare seared tuna steak with hot pepper salsa to marinating bite-size pieces of the fish in the salsa as an appetizer.
As more chefs and fish fanciers adapt poke to other cuisines and cultures, diners are apt to find it taking on many new forms and turning up on many more menus. Sam's Aku Poke is a traditional version on which to build. Remember that only sushi-grade (Grade 1) fish should be used in raw poke dishes.
recipe for:
SAM'S AKU POKE
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB