I gobble down three varieties in roughly 15 minutes before dashing back out to the car. Times running out and I have plenty more poke to eat. The next stop is literally up the street. Tanioka’s (808-671-3779: map) is a Waipahu stalwart, a traditional Hawaii deli with lots of local foods such as kalua pig (pork cooked in an underground imu) and poi (fermented taro). Tanioka’s also has perhaps the largest selection of pokes found in a single store in Hawaii. The list is truly dizzying and includes 11 types of ahi poke and other poke made from clams, squid and smoked fish. Mel Tanioka, the owner and founder, is an avid fisherman and he enjoys a well deserved reputation for bringing in top-quality seafood. I decide to try some salmon belly poke, Japan clam poke, and the aku (skipjack) limu poke, perhaps the most traditional poke around. I was not disappointed and the aku poke was light and refreshing.
In the car on the way back to East Honolulu where I live, I realized I had hit a point of poke paralysis. A nap was in order. I slept deeply, thanks to the three or four pounds of raw seafood in my belly. When I awoke it was dark and just after 6 pm. I had overslept. That mean I really only had time left for two more stops. It was time to see master chefs take poke to another creative level. Friends had raved about the poke creation of Chef Wayne Hirabayashi at Hoku’s (808.739.8888:map), a fabulous oceanside restaurant located in the posh Kahala Resort down the street from David Geffen's Hawaii mansion. The waitress looked confused when I told her I only wanted poke and ordered the ahi poke musubi with crab cucumber ogo salad. The food arrived quickly. Musubi means something wrapped in rice. What the chef had done was take a good dollop of ahi poke, wrap it in a ball of sushi rice coated with furikake and other seasonings, and then deep fried the whole shebang. He set this atop the crunchy salad sauced with sweet rice wine vinegar. Was this truly poke? Purist might argue that the dish stepped over the line. But it was definitely delicious. The crispy crust of the rice ball and offered a nice textural counterpoint to the silky ahi. I swore to return another time. To be continued....
Advertisers, reach Hawaii |
