Poké Bowl 18cm Mangosteen Color

Poké bowl is a Hawaiian dish with deep roots in Japanese cuisine. Poké means “cut into pieces,” and the name refers to slices or cubes of raw fish served in a bowl, along with rice, dressing, vegetables, and condiments. Poké is a staple of Hawaiian cuisine. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thousands of Japanese immigrated to the island to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations. So many Japanese arrived in Hawaii that by the 1920s, more than 40% of the population was Japanese. It’s no wonder that Japanese eating habits have become integrated into Hawaiian cuisine! Poké is a great example of this. Both the native Hawaiians and Japanese immigrants loved raw fish, so the new dish spread to local menus in the 1970s. Traditionally, Poké is very simple: cubes of raw ahi, a local type of tuna, served with a little Hawaiian salt, chopped seaweed, and roasted and finely ground kukui (a cashew nut, lacquer tree); no rice, no additives. Poké seems like a casually thrown-together Hawaiian version of the strict, clean Japanese sashimi. The modern Poké bowl is a dish that can be adapted to any taste and preference. In fact, the cubes of fish are the only requirement – they can be raw, marinated, or grilled. Anything goes, though most versions remain local and international without straying far from their Japanese-Hawaiian roots.