Bluefin are still here, and as long we’re catching, we’re eating. The season is certainly in transition with both air and water temperatures plummeting in a span of just a few weeks. As we approach the New Year, rockfish, bonito, sculpin, and homeguards enter our conversations more and more. The pelagic bite slowly subsides and our focus shifts. BUT, until those bluefin push out of range, anglers are still going to look for them, find them, catch them, and eat them.
Let’s face it; not everyone likes raw fish. For those that love it, it’s hard to comprehend. But it’s understandable for a variety of reasons (i.e., texture or health reasons) and that’s how this recipe came to be. Half of my family can’t get enough of the uncooked preparations (sashimi, nigiri, poke, crudo, ceviche, etc.), but the other half prefer everything cooked, or at the very least an overnight ceviche where the acid from the citrus works its magic. If the fish comes from a trusted source where they know it was caught, bled, iced, dried and prepared, they’ll take a couple bites of raw poke. That’s how they know they love the flavor. It’s a shame to cook it to death, so I took a stab at this where I hard-seared the poke (creating a crust) but left the inside rare. It was an instant favorite. I did the poke several different ways and, although they were all good, this recipe was their favorite. I have won poke competitions (and lost plenty, too), and giving credit where credit is due, the actual sauce for this dish was inspired by my friend and fellow angler, Marco Gonzales. I’ve had this sauce (or at least similar) before and loved it, so now it’s part of my arsenal.
Next Recipe: Dungeness Dynamite Sticks
As I mentioned a few articles back, any time I do an Asian-inspired dish that uses mushrooms, my go-to is the soft and spongy “Hamakua” mushrooms, because they absorb whatever you give them and have a meaty quality about them vs. dry and grainy. For this seared poke recipe, of the Hamakuas I chose to use the Ali’i mushroom, and tied it all together with the stir fry, jasmine rice, sesame chili garlic sauce and fresh Meyer lemon. This one has been added to my menu for pelagic season… so when it’s time for tuna, yellowtail, and wahoo, this is going to hit the kitchen more often than not.
