Chef Makoa
ʻAʻama (Hawaiian Black Rock Crab with Paʻakai)
Hawaiʻi's reef-gathered ʻaʻama, the small black rock crab from the shoreline stones, boiled quick in salty water and picked whole at the lūʻau table beside ʻopihi.
Culinary Explorer
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ʻInamona Poke (Hawaiian ʻAhi with Limu)
Created by
Hawaiian ʻahi cut clean and tossed with limu, ʻinamona, and paʻakai, the deep poke of home waters. No coconut here. Same fish, different bowl.
Main Dishes
Polynesian, Hawaiian
Quick Meal
Potluck
Celebration
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 servings
My kumu used to say the ocean feeds you straight, but only if you come to it straight. This is Hawaiian poke, from my home waters, ʻahi cut clean and held with limu, the seaweed, ʻinamona, roasted crushed kukui, and paʻakai, sea salt. No coconut here. No lime bath. The fish stays itself.
Same fish, different bowl. Sāmoa has oka iʻa, Tonga has ʻota ʻika, Tahiti has ʻia ota, the Cook Islands have ika mata, all those cousins bright with citrus and coconut. Hawaiʻi's old hand is different: reef salt, limu, kukui, the clean fat of the fish, and the taste of the place where the canoe landed.
Bring it into your kitchen without making it precious. Buy the best fish you can, ask when it came out of the water, and use ʻinamona from somebody who knows how to roast kukui right. Then mix close to the table. Raw fish waits for nobody, yeah? Dress it, bless it, eat it.
Poke in Hawaiʻi reaches back before soy sauce and sesame oil, when reef fish or ʻahi were cut and seasoned with paʻakai, limu, and ʻinamona, the roasted kukui relish that gave fat, bitterness, and nutty depth. Its cousins across the Triangle show the same ocean grammar in different hands: Sāmoan oka iʻa, Tongan ʻota ʻika, Tahitian ʻia ota, and Cook Islands ika mata lean on citrus and coconut, while Hawaiian poke keeps the fish bare and salt-bright. Plantation-era and modern local kitchens later welcomed shoyu, onion, sesame, and chili, not as a replacement for the deep bowl, but as proof the food kept living.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very fresh sashimi-grade ʻahi tuna
Quantity
1 pound
cut into 3/4-inch cubes
limu kohu or limu ogo
Quantity
1/3 cup
rinsed, drained, and chopped
ʻinamona, roasted and crushed kukui nut relish
Quantity
2 tablespoons
paʻakai, Hawaiian sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
plus more to taste
green onions
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
Hawaiian chile pepper or red chile (optional)
Quantity
1 small
minced
neutral oil (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
only if the fish is very lean
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very fresh sashimi-grade ʻahi tunacut into 3/4-inch cubes | 1 pound |
| limu kohu or limu ogorinsed, drained, and chopped | 1/3 cup |
| ʻinamona, roasted and crushed kukui nut relish | 2 tablespoons |
| paʻakai, Hawaiian sea saltplus more to taste | 1 teaspoon |
| green onionsthinly sliced | 2 |
| Hawaiian chile pepper or red chile (optional)minced | 1 small |
| neutral oil (optional)only if the fish is very lean | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp fish knife or long slicing knife
- •Nonreactive chilled mixing bowl
- •Carved wooden ʻumeke or plain serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Choose the fish
Start with ʻahi so fresh you'd eat it plain, because the fish underneath is the whole law. It should smell like clean ocean and almost nothing else, firm under the knife, glossy in the cut. If it smells tired, no make it raw. Cook it instead and eat well.
- 2
Cut clean cubes
Pat the ʻahi dry and cut it into even three-quarter-inch cubes with a sharp knife. Clean cuts keep the fish glossy instead of ragged, and that matters here because Hawaiian poke doesn't hide under coconut cream the way Sāmoan oka or Tahitian ʻia ota does.
- 3
Ready the limu
Rinse the limu, the seaweed, gently and drain it well. Chop it into small bites so it runs through the fish without clumping. Limu brings the reef into the bowl, briny and mineral, the taste of place.
- 4
Season the ʻahi
Fold the ʻahi with the paʻakai, limu, ʻinamona, green onion, and chile if you're using it. Use your hands or a soft spoon and turn it gently, just until every cube is touched. The ʻinamona should cling like a roasted nutty dust, not bury the fish.
Use only properly roasted kukui in ʻinamona, from a trusted maker if you can. Raw kukui is not food for this bowl. - 5
Taste and serve
Taste one cube and adjust with a pinch more paʻakai or a little more limu. If the ʻahi is very lean, fold in the teaspoon of oil for sheen, but don't make it slick. Serve right away in an ʻumeke, a wooden bowl, while the fish is still cold, red, and alive-looking.
Chef Tips
- •Buy your fish from somebody who can tell you when it came out of the water. Fresh ʻahi doesn't smell fishy; it smells clean, cold, and quiet.
- •Limu kohu is strong and precious, so use it with respect. Limu ogo is easier to find and still brings the reef taste to the bowl.
- •ʻInamona should taste roasted, nutty, a little bitter, and salty. If you can't find safe, properly roasted ʻinamona, use more limu and paʻakai rather than guessing with raw kukui.
- •No need shame the modern bowl. A little shoyu or sesame oil belongs to how Hawaiʻi eats now, but for this one, taste the older line first.
Advance Preparation
- •Rinse and drain the limu up to 1 day ahead, then keep it covered and cold.
- •Cube the ʻahi up to 2 hours ahead and keep it cold, but do not season until just before serving.
- •Poke is best eaten the same hour it is mixed. Salt pulls water from raw fish when it sits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 135g)
Calories
160 calories
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
675 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
28 g
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