A Pokemaster, the person who trains in the art of delicious fresh ingredients and respects of the sea and the one who is trusted with knowledge of the ocean behind the poke counter. Many of the best pokemasters had come from commercial fishing families as they had been living with the ocean their whole life, but there are a few that may study the bounty of the ocean and specialize more in the cooking aspect. The responsibilities of a pokemaster go far beyond simply mixing poke up in a bowl and serving it as there are many techniques that go into the job itself.
Not only is responsibility important, but also the amount of knowledge in understanding the dishes and ingredients that are going to be used in the mix. They have to know the quality of ingredient, the sauce, the spices, the holding time, the chill time, and the preparation. They take everything into account when making the decisions about what to do to achieve the best taste they can. There might have to be changes in cube size, more sauce, or how to store the food depending on the ingredients that come in. It takes practice for a nice consistency in cuts to make a cube that is uniform with all the other cubes thrown into the bunch as well to have a nice appearance and consistent taste with texture and chew time. Large fish that taste food raw are the most sought after, shellfish are the next in demand, and the rest are soy based. Understanding the seasonings is important as in the olden days poke was simply made with just a seasoning of salt, so its really important to take that into account. Overseeing what sauces do to flavor, alchohol for boiling, or straight up water to make a boil preparation for a certain type of poke that isn’t too strong or too weak in flavor that can be ready for the dishes that need it, such as Octopus Poke (He'e Poke, Tako Poke). It may look like they are just tasting as they are going along with their daily food prep, but there is much more going on in their mind. Looking for Freshness at Sea Fishing is a entry way into having the proper ingredients available with many who try out making poke at home talk to other skilled fishermen to share ideas and dishes they themselves have tried with their catch. By such discussions and fishing from either the shores, a boat, or diving in the water to get a catch the bond of ocean is inevitable as there is so much time spent in it understanding the fish itself that is eaten. While fishing is one way there is always more than one way to build the knowledge base of becoming a good Poke Master, since the main idea is compiling knowledge. This brings up talking to the fishermen themselves who at the market selling their catch and farmers who provide ingredients as well. Slowly but surely knowing of the best fish to use based on the regional history, ingredient life cycle, and cooking knowledge create for a most yummy poke. Going to the fish market is also an important task in making a menu as it takes skills that are developed overtime to beable to properly evaluate which fish to get and how much to buy for a certain establishment. Or a cook at home may have to beable to look at the cuts of fish meat and beable to see what parts are better in the grocery market seafood section as well as know what is available by season. This sort of judgement is used more and more as the flavor of the poke is directly connected through seasonality and meat coloring and texture. Kept for the Flavor The pride of a Pokemaster is passing on traditional teachings of Hawaiian culinary arts of harvesting, fishing, and respecting the ocean by creating various mixes that respect seasonality. This sort of respect stems from Kumulipo that explains about how the coral is important for marine life (seafood) and to the people who live in Hawaii as the inhabitants. This marks marine conservation as an important vital connection to life on the islands that have been shaped by it. Hawaii fishermen, Hawaii Cooks, and especially Hawaii Pokemasters do not treat the ocean as "open catch ocean" and have strong belief in seasonality and ingredient reproduction protection rules for not only a wider variety of foods, but also to keep the poke shops alive for the long term. Pokemasters play their role when they go into the fish market and buy only the seafood that are at their best in season and not at a lesser seasonal quality of the same seafood. For example if it is Halalu season it will show in their dishes versus when it is off season the dish may not be on the menu at all. The many fishes they do take back tend to be rather frozen at sea and that begs the question of what is counted as fresh seafood that is tasting at its best. There are actually two types of quality of poke listed as “Fresh” which is freshly frozen or “Frozen” which is sometimes frozen twice or not as fresh that is seen when people are buying poke, but some people can't even tell when the fish has been frozen twice, so more affordable poke for them and thats good since its so pricey. That being said it is important how the seafood is caught and sold by season, stored properly, and the process of transported ingredients while its still fresh all play important roles in the flavor. Taking action through Poke in Hawaii As poke becomes widespread with more people taking from the ocean it is worrisome if the ocean can withstand the demand and if the techniques of Hawaii Poke making will beable to pass on by pokemasters to the next generation. It is thought that the future of poke remaining available at lower prices is going to based on the efforts of those who are involved with industries outside of cooking like: aquaculture engineering, fisheries and fighting maritime crime, along with aquaculture farmers. It isn't uncommon for pokemasters to be involved in initiatives of helping the ocean recover as it is directly related to what ingredients they have available. Groups that are involved with clean water, coral research, and marine biology research for aquaculture farming. As more people who not only make poke, but also those who consume the dish there are more who are becoming more aware of the process of sourcing fish as it effects their menu options as well as the dishes survival for the future. [photo. ahi assassins]
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