How to bring the Big Island home
The nation’s first (and possibly only) place dedicated to poke, a Hawaiian/Californian salad of marinated raw fish, is found in the back of the basement inside the Hamilton Farmers’ Market.
To outsiders, the market is an unlikely little treasure trove of ramen, tacos and small-batch ice cream in flavours such as lychee and curried carrot.
Connected to the Jackson Square mall complex, the market is steps away from the packed mall food court with the obligatory tenants. Walk past that, and head to the lower level where customers line up at Pokeh well past the lunch rush.
There’s good food in Hamilton, you just have to know where to find it.
“We just love the food scene here, especially in the last few years when it just exploded,” says Pokeh owner Salar Madadi, who opened the fourmonth-old poke stall after falling in love with the dish while honeymooning in Venice Beach four years ago. “I feel right now there’s lots of opportunities to open (in Hamilton) without a ton of money. We opened this place with like, nothing, because the market is not as saturated. There’s a feeling of excitement; you’ll get a lot of people who’ll flock to a new place to check it out.”
Poke (pronounced “poke-eh”) is the Hawaiian verb for slicing and loosely refers to cut raw fish seasoned with some combination of salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chilies, seaweed and wasabi. Unlike ceviche, where lime juice cooks the raw fish, poke is closer to the Japanese chirashi bowl of mixed raw seafood on rice with vegetables and seasonings.
It makes sense because much of Hawaiian cuisine is influenced by Japanese cooking that resulted from settlements of Japanese workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Poke became a popular appetizer in Hawaiian homes, and today varieties of poke can be found pre-mixed at deli counters on the Big Island. The state’s biggest celebrity chef, Sam Choy, helped popularize it on the mainland — California being particularly smitten — and held an annual poke recipe contest that ran from 1991 to 2014. Today, poke bars (think salad bars but with poke) dot the Californian coastline, becoming part of the local health-conscious cuisine.
In Toronto there’s been an emergence of tiki and Polynesian-inspired bars in recent months; you can get ahi tuna with avocado and lime in a sesame soy dressing at Miss Thing’s. Poke can also be found at non-tiki spots such as Kinkai Izakaya (née Guu) in the form of sashimi marinated in soy sauces. Even the just-opened Saks Food Hall by Pusateri’s at Sherway Gardens sells it. But at Madadi’s Pokeh stall, it’s an all-poke menu where you can choose your toppings, or pick one of the house bowls.
Madadi’s brother Shayne, who mans the cramped kitchen, whips up Pokeh’s classic bowl of ahi tuna chunks tossed in a simple mix of soy sauce and sesame oil, onions, cucumbers and finished with sesame seeds and macadamia nuts. It’s light and fresh-tasting with a watery crunch, but satisfies even the biggest of appetites. It’s the perfect lunch for light jacket weather.
“A good poke needs a salty seasoning to the fish, and two layers of crunch so something mixed into the bowl like jicama or carrots, and then something to go on top like taro chips or pumpkin seeds,” Madadi says. “But there is no one way to make poke. It’s more like the idea of a dish.” Sourcing ingredients Hawaiians traditionally use kukui, or candlenut in their poke, but Madadi uses macadamia nuts since they’re easier to source and both have the buttery flavour. If you’re in Scarborough, you can find candlenuts at Indonesian food distributor Oey Trading Co. (3241 Kennedy Rd., Unit 12). Just be sure to roast them in the oven before cracking them open, as they are toxic if eaten raw. And don’t eat too many of them as they are also a laxative (you’re welcome).
As well, be aware the terms “sushigrade” and “sashimi-grade” aren’t regulated by the government. It’s up to the stores to determine if their fish is fresh enough to be eaten raw.
To reduce the risk, go to a reputable fishmonger who receives regular shipments and can answer questions about where the fish was caught, how long it has been sitting at the counter and how it was processed (i.e., at the store or by the supplier). Check that the fish is stored separately — wrapped in plastic or kept in another section — from the non-sushi grade fish to prevent cross-contamination from parasites.
Fish that are prone to parasites — sushi favourites salmon and tuna being prime examples — must be frozen for at least seven days to kill off any bugs, according to Health Canada, so ask the fishmonger how long the fish has been on ice. Also, look for all the usual markings of fresh fish: no fishy smell, slime or discoloration.
When in doubt, or if you live in an area that doesn’t sell fish safe for raw consumption, use seared salmon instead. For a meatless version, Madadi adds pickled tamari mushrooms and tofu. karonliu@thestar.ca