Post #811894 by KonsTiki on Sun, Jan 21, 2024 3:18 AM

First of all, thank you, @jokeiii, for providing the "oven-fried crab rangoon" recipe! It was a total success last night. None of my guests had previously tried a crab rangoon before (except my fiancé at Trader Vic's Tokyo), and that recipe knocked it out of the park for us. I made the lime-chili-hoisin sauce as recommended, which worked out great. I also prepared some Futomaki, Japanese-style potato salad, and two Pokes. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from last night but I’ve included two older ones.

To keep this from being completely off-topic, I will share my Poke recipes. I like to make two variations of Poke for my Tiki parties: one traditional and one slightly more contemporary, making it more approachable for guests ony familiar with mall "poke bowls."

The Traditional, or Heritage Poke:

• Salt
• Dried seaweed (salad)
• Nuts (I like Brazil or macadamia)
• Orange Habanero
• Fish you're comfortable eating "raw"

Start by soaking your seaweed in salted water. I prefer packaged seaweed salads from Japanese/Korean/Oriental markets, offering various seaweed types. If unavailable, use dried wakame or kombu. While the seaweed soaks, process your habanero (you might want to use latex gloves for this). Remove the stem and seeds, and the webbing holding the seeds. Chop the habanero semi-finely and taste a piece. Assess the spiciness and add a suitable amount to a large mixing bowl. Roast and chop your nuts and add them to the bowl. Strain and dry your seaweed (with paper towels), then chop it, and into the bowl, it goes. Next, cube your fish with a sharp knife. The cubes can be anything from 1cm to 1" in size. Add those to the bowl. Finally, add good-quality salt (think of Hawaiian sea salt or kosher salt) and mix thoroughly. Give it a taste and add more habanero or salt if you'd like.

Some notes: When choosing the habanero, pick out the smallest, ugliest, and wrinkliest ones. I have found that those have the most flavor without being too spicy. Orange habaneros have an incredible fruity aroma that reminds me of "tutti-frutti" candy. When shopping for the chiles, pick up some milder "just in case" chilies that you can use if the habanero turns out to be way too spicy. Also, if you have Hawaiian chilies available, use those instead of habanero. While Tiki is very much ”polynesian pop” I love to include some authentic aspects like this heritage Poke The popular mall poke bowls have diluted the reputation of this fine dish and most people (at least in Finland) have never tried the real thing.

Modern Authentic Poke:

• Sesame oil
• 2 Scallions
• 1/4 to 1/2 of a Pearl onion (or any Hawaiian kind)
• Ginger
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Gochujang
• Fish you're comfortable eating "raw"

Mix equal parts of the sauces in a large mixing bowl. Grate or finely chop the ginger and add it to the bowl. Cube your fish, dice your onions and scallions finely, and add them to the bowl. Give it a good mix and a taste test. Add soy if it needs more salt, oyster or hoisin sauce if it needs more sweetness, gochujang or ginger for spiciness, sesame oil for tastiness, and onion for onion flavor.

Some notes: I often add to the modern Poke some nuts and seaweed as well. I don't serve poke with rice because I almost always have a Japanese-style potato salad that provides carbs for the meal. Happy cooking!