Spicy Tuna Poke

I'm feeling quite sheepish as I type up this post........you see I'm not a big fan of spicy tuna rolls. In fact, if you do a search on "Spicy Tuna Roll" on this blog, I don't think you'll come up with much. And yet, on our last trip home, the Missus really enjoyed the spicy ahi poke from Lana'i Ohana Poke Market and She asked me to make it. What could I do?

I felt kinda bad using such good quality maguro for this, but it's what She wanted. I also warned Her that mayonnaise is a key ingredient, the Missus claims a total aversion to it, but I've always thought She was closet mayo lover and this proves me right again. Anyway, I saw spicy poke everywhere on my last couple of trips home.

This one is easy.....the spicy tuna thing is very basic stuff. You could add something like Mad Dog Habanero Extract and really do some damage. Perhaps after finding out how easy it really is, you'll just make the stuff at home and eat the good stuff when you get sushi.

I'm really not sure what the Missus will want next.

Spicy Tuna Poke:

 1/2 lb diced ahi or maguro
3-4 tb minced red or sweet onion
2 stalks scallions minced - green parts only
2 tb tobiko (flying fish roe) plus more for use as a topping
1/3 cup mayo (Hellmans or Best Foods)
2-3 tb shoyu
3-4 tb Sriracha (or more to taste)
ground chilies to taste
1 tsp sesame oil

- Combine mayo, shoyu, sriracha, and ground chilies
- Gently mix together tuna, onions, and green onions
- Add mayo mixture and tobiko, mix gently
- Add sesame oil, taste an adjust flavoring

As you can tell, I had some fun with my food and plated on a bed of finely diced cucumber. I used a Spam musubi mold to get the shape.

I made some typical shoyu poke for me. While the spicy tuna was a rectangle on a round plate....I did a circle on a rectangular plate........

 

Jus' fo' fun...you know?

Comments

[kat]

nice! I wanna try this sriracha method, I always use kim chee base.

[Food detective]

Where do you get your fish and roe?

[Dennis]

I would totally put those over a bowl of rice!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - I think it's a bit less salty than the kim chee base version. Hope it turns out well.

Hi TFD - Marukai Costa Mesa

Hi Dennis - I was thinking about stuffing an onigiri with this stuff!

[santos.]

kirk have you tried ajinomoto mayo? i guess it's a kewpie mayo rival, but if i have to use mayonnaise, it's the one i go for--creamier, eggier, and uses rice wine vinegar.

[Kirk]

Hi santos - No I've never tried that. I'm not a real big fan of Kewpie on a whole lot of things, which is why I don't have it at home. I gotta try some, thanks for the suggestion!

[Carol]

It looks fantastic, Kirk! I'll have to make this next time I get some fresh tuna.

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Well, the Missus really likes it......

[Faye]

Thanks for this recipe! I've been trying to find something similar to this for ages now so it's great that you posted this. Do you suggest going to Marukai here in SD to get the tuna? This would work well w/ salmon sashimi as well too right?

[Kirk]

Hi Faye - I'd be more apt to pick-up salmon from Marukai or Nijiya in San Diego. Not too keen on the maguro I've seen there. Sp pick carefully......

[Bobbichristy]

I am so confused.. I always thought poke had fresh ginger ( I had hubby make poke with the yellowtail he caught yesterday) and I love the ginger and garlic in it. I haven't ever had it in Hawaii but this is the first time I saw it should have mayonaise in it. my husband never saw it that way either so that might explain why yours is lighter than what we make. Hopefully hubbys next fishing trip yields yellowfin, so we can make more poke the "right" way but what we did was great, I will have to tell him about this recipe.

[Kirk]

Hi Bobbychristy - There is no "right" way to make poke per se. There are anout as many ways to make poke as stars under the sky. I tend to think of it as more "traditional" which would be just sea salt, ogo, onions, and perhaps inamona and shoyu. This is something that has been appearing in Hawaii over the last decade or so. If you'd like to see what poke now looks like from various places in Hawaii, you can check out our poke category:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/poke/

Here's a basic recipe from about 7 years ago. I continue to make it this way as well.

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/07/poke_as_in_poka.html