Posts Tagged ‘Big Island’

The original King Kamehameha I statue

For Memorial Day weekend, Andre and I were going to travel to NYC to visit my parents and our friends.  We had to change our plans at the last minute because our chances of getting on a standby flight to LAX to catch our connecting flight to JFK was getting slimmer by the second.  So after some tears and heartache (I haven’t been home in two years!), we decided to hop on a flight to Kona on the Big Island and spend time with his family over there.  His parents were already there so they came to pick us up at KOA and we drove up the Kohala coast to Hawi. (more…)

Ahi Poke

We were in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii this past weekend.  Our friends Mai and Jess invited us to their twins’ high school graduation party.  It was a lot of fun getting together with friends on the Big Island (some others flew in from Oahu as well) because it was like a big family gathering.

Our first day there, we were invited over to our friends Shawna and Rich’s house after having lunch at a delicious Japanese restaurant by the lake and stopping by Two Ladies Kitchen for the strawberry mochi.  Their house sits up on a hill with sweeping views of the ocean and cool breezes that permeates the living room and a beautiful kitchen.  One of their friends went fishing that day and dropped off a couple of ahi tunas.  It doesn’t get any better than fresh fish!

Ahi poke (pronounced po-keh) is synonymous with Hawaiian cuisine.  Almost every restaurant or eatery that serves Hawaiian food has poke on the menu.  All supermarkets including Costco here have a poke section.  There are other types of poke like tako (aka octopus) poke, shrimp poke, and white crab poke, but ahi tuna is probably the most popular as there is such a huge variety of seasonings such as kukui nut, spicy, limu, avocado, etc.

Freshly caught ahi

Since we had access to fresh ahi, we decided to make some ahi poke with whatever ingredients we had on hand.  You can tell by looking at the color of the fish that it is super fresh.  It almost had a purplish hue.

Seasoning the ahi

A BIG THANKS to Shawna and Rich for inviting us over to their beautiful house!!  Also a BIG THANKS to Mai and Jess for inviting us to the party and letting us stay at their house!

BIG ISLAND AHI POKE
(AM’s own recipe)

Serving size: 4-6 pupu-style

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of fresh ahi, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup shoyu (aka soy sauce)
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon Tabasco
1 tablespoon honey
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of furikake
Green onions, chopped (optional)

1. In a small bowl, combine shoyu, sesame oil, Tabasco, and honey. Taste to see if you need to add more of any ingredient.

2. Place ahi tuna in a medium size bowl and pour mixture over the ahi. Stir to ensure that the ahi is completely covered.

3. Mix in sea salt and furikake. Top with green onions (optional).

Note:  The measurements of the ingredients are approximate and should be adjusted according to taste.