Tuna Poke is a gift from the Hawaiian islands
Originally a dish the fisherman snacked on while catching reef fish; it is now on menus of many restaurants and in the seafood departments of many grocery stores
The fisherman would use the scrapes and cover them with salt to preserve, add seawed, and candlenuts for a tasty treat.
In the 60s and 70s, the dish started to be called poke, which translates to cut crosswise. Chef Sam Choy who is known as the grandfather of poke really brought this dish into popularity, and poke as we know it today.
Although seaweed is found in most poke, I have not used it in this recipe. And the beauty of poke is you can customize it to make it your own.
You do not have to make this poke into tacos; use the won tons for crispy serving crackers, use it as a jumping-off point for creating your own poke or transform it into nachos. Most importantly, have fun and be creative.
Tuna Poke Tacos
Equipment
- metal taco holder
Ingredients
Tuna poke
- 16 ounce fresh tuna steak
- 1/2 tbsp sea salt
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp mirin sake
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 small cucumber finely diced with no seeds optional
- 1 avocado finely diced optional
- 1 green onion thinly sliced optional
- ½ cup Macadamia nuts chopped optional but recommended
won ton taco shells
- 20 won ton wrappers or egg roll wrappers
- 2 tbsp chili oil can substitute and oil
sriracha mayo
- 1 cup mayo
- 1 tsp mirin sake or any sake or rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp sriracha
Instructions
Tuna Poke
- Cut your tuna into small ½inch dice and place in a bowl.
- Add the salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, chili sauce, and ginger. Storr well and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Won ton taco shells
- heat oven to 350°
- If you have a large round cutter, cut your won ton or egg roll wrappers into circles. Its ok to have square tacos if you do not have a round cutter.
- If using eggroll wrappers and leaving square cut them into 4 squares
- Brush both sides with chili oil; if you are using plain oil add some sriracha to it to spice it up.
- Lay the wrapper over a metal taco holder
- If you do not have a taco holder that can go in the oven, you can lay them flat and use them as chips for the poke or make tuna poke nachos.
- Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, checking after 5 minutes. You want them to crisp up but not so crispy they break up easily. Leave them on the holder to cool for 5 minutes.
Tuna
- While your tuna is in the refrigerator, cut the rest of your garnish.
- It is best to wait until the last to cut up your avocado and then add it straight away to the poke.
- Cut your green onion and add it to a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes, then drain and dry on a paper towel. This will help the onions not taste so strong and also make them crisp.
Sriracha Mayo
- Whisk all the ingredients together and place in a squeeze bottle if you have one.
Tuna
- Remove the tuna from the fridge, add the avocado, cucumber, and macadamia nuts and mix well.
Build your tacos
- Stuff your shells with the poke, squeeze on the spicy mayo and garnish with the green onion.