A traditional Hawaiian dish that cuts food into cube shapes and evolved to have sauces and toppings as time went on. Hawaii residence have been making poke since forever. While most people who have been to the Aloha state it would be common to see Poke selections in markets with all sorts of variations. While mainlanders are intrigued and happy for the latest in food trends the local islander may view the trend as making strange concoctions that happen to be called poke.
The mainland has found its interest in Poke and have made it either traditional or a dish that resembles more of a tossed salad that happens to have poke in it. The Poke craze is the reason that so many people had turned their taste buds towards Hawaii and its Poke. It was said that a Poke Bowl was brought back to Los Angeles California and gained popularity from it and making waves in other states like New York and Boston. Poke Bowl Sizes There are three sizes of poke bowls. A mini poke bowl, a regular poke bowl, and large poke bowl, due to different customers wanting to eat different amounts in their meal. This customer consideration helps in making more bowl sizes that responds to the needs of customers in the ever changing food industry. Many other umeke bowls started to follow the sizing differences of bowls after the popularity of the size differences with poke bowls. Poke Sauces First off is the Sauce, the sauces that are created stem from the basics of: (1.) Shoyu, (2.) Sesame Shoyu, (3.) Garlic Shoyu, (4.) Ponzu Sauce, (5.) Kimchi Shoyu, (6.) Sweet Spicy, (7.) Mustard Shoyu, (8.) Wasabi Shoyu, (9.) Mayo, (10.) Spicy Mayo, (11.) Wasabi Mayo, (12.) Mustard Mayo, (13.) Sesame Mayo and many more. But, on the mainland the flavors which are popular tend to not feature a lot of the local flavors and muster a smaller list that tends to shy away from sesame flavors, ginger, and mayonnaise like sauces which leave: shoyu, wasabi shoyu, spicy citrus shoyu, spicy mayo, and ponzu sauce, are the sauces from poke shops that are looking for safer flavors. Those gaining even more popularity are the poke shops that are avoiding the idea of any of the original sauces and taking the bowl in the direction of more citruses of ponzu, truffle ponzu, and lemon juice which most are not common among poke flavors in Hawaii. Bowl Base Second is the Base, while those who eat poke bowls in Hawaii will notice that the base will vary from different sorts of rice as the base without any regard to noodles or salad. This being said the mainland style choices of: medium grain white rice, brown rice, and bamboo rice. It is common to have an ingredient such as masago fish eggs, tobiko fish eggs, minced eggs, or furikake on top of the choice base which is usually the white rice. It starts to become more of a salad when greens are used as the base, such as: Kale Salad, Mixed Greens Salad, and Seaweed salad that top the charts of their popularity of poke bowls with people saying they love poke bowls… The second that the base has been taken into the salad arena it raises eyebrows from those in the know that understand that there is no salad base to a poke bowl in Hawaii. The then mainland poke bowl has darted off into false advertisement in being a salad bowl with poke in it and advertising it as its authentic version with a rice base. Poke Bowl Types The different types of bowls care based on how many choices are ordered from the customer. There are Three choice poke bowl, two choice poke (aka. half and half bowl), and one choice poke bowl. This was first introduced in order to have a variety of different costing poke and to make a bowl have more dishes in a single bowl for a customer to eat. This can be found at establishments like: Tamura's, Fresh Catch, and Sushi Bay. Bowl Toppings Thirdly the Toppings, while it might seem like being overly critical to just point out the base it is important to take notice to the toppings as well. While the typical toppings that could be found in Hawaii would be the likes of: green onions, onions, ogo seaweed, kukui nuts, kimchi, garlic, masago fish eggs, imitation crab, avocado, and ginger, the toppings in the trends have added other items that would slightly imply to go for the greens base and forgo the rice as a pairing. These toppings would be the additions of: Carrots, Sliced Cucumbers, Sliced White Mushrooms, Serrano Peppers, Kale, Pineapple, Radish, Red Cabbage, Cherry Tomatoes, Mango, Macadamia Nuts, Edamame Beans, and Crispy Onions, all which imply the bowl could transform into an asian style tossed salad or a cerviche. A few establishments leaning towards the salad misdirection and misunderstanding of a poke bowl are: Poke Bar, Wiki Poki, and The Poke Shack. Possibly a Sushi Bowl (Chirashi) Sometimes the sushi rice is so popular to be eaten with poke it can not be helped but to add it to menus. The Sushi Bowl that uses poke can be either considered a poke bowl from the poke used or as a sushi bowl for the use of sushi rice. While there are clear differences from a salad the lines get difficult to place when it comes to sushi with its similarity of consuming raw fish. Not a Salad Bowl (aka. Lomi Bowl) Argument of the “Aina Bowl” that uses the word ”aina” which means the land which feeds us to describe the vegetables that have been placed as the star over the rice that absorbs the sauces of the poke. As the fundamentals of rice with a cubed food with a sauce are gone and made a vegetable that is topped with cubed food and topped again with garnishes for a different beast altogether. The Poke Bowl of the mainland needed a separate category for its vegetable bowl cousin that didn’t classify as a poke bowl. While it is said that unacceptable things are born out of good intentions, sometimes…it would seem that the use of greens instead of rice would be one of those things. The idea that a salad is the main mixture creates the thoughts to Hawaii islanders closer to the idea of a tossed salad without any sort of resemblance to poke. While the mainland was simply trying to make the bowl more attractive to its own regional audience it had mistakenly made a whole separate category of bowls by catering to the salad and noodle eaters that chose to make such a pairing with poke. While the salad mixed with poke has gained its own title there is still yet any nick name for the bowls that use noodles as a base. The rise of Hawaii food snob has been a thing, since those who live in Hawaii had started to have a need to defend authenticity. This can bring up the typical authentic arguments of certain dishes being “fake” or “not authentic”, but the real arguments would be the geological ingredient limitations and the dish being eaten in a similar form in its geological area. Situations brought up from the poke bowl is the less respectful nicknamed “Haole Poke Bowl”, “Haole Bowl”, or the normal comparison of a “Hawaiian Salad Bowl” or “Hawaiian Salad”. Authentic Poke While garnering positive attention and more people interested in Hawaii’s cuisine for the time it begs the question on how much passed the taste are consumers looking and if questions are raised of what is authentic poke. This can only be done if proper sources are looked over and a history lesson is told. In the case of curious it would be best to check out Rachel Laudan’s “The Food of Paradise” that explains poke means cut into pieces uses kukui nut, seaweed, and seasoned with salt. There is a fine line between serving something that is understood and believed in through the love of the food versus food fads that treat the dish as an economic object for commodification. New School Poke comes from restaurants trying to tame the dish that is poke and make it their own. While not totally accepted and sometimes touted as “Haole Poke” to place a label of disregard and unapproval to the creations that have been inspired by poke and said to be poke. The Americanized Poke, the Mainland Poke, the poke that has traveled across the United States has been marketed as healthy in greens, diet worthy, and exotically Hawaiian. Comparing the tastes are tricky as the sauces, certain ingredient mixes, and garnishes are very different from Hawaii Poke. The differences of a Poke bowl in the mainland are so different that the taste is no longer of poke. Mainland Controversy Hawaii Poke had to make a change to interest mainlanders from its original style, which generally means a mainland version of the hawaiian dish: popular fish, healthier options, asian toppings, on the go bowls, with a few highlighted Hawaii ingredients that barely scratch as a justification of its existence as a food fad. As the “Tiki fad” of many years past, the poke fad is cultivating an interest in Hawaii culture in general. While growing numbers of mainland flavors get formed, Hawaii people who moved to the mainland work on the authentic flavors, both end up bringing different perspectives of what is the mainland take and the hawaii take on the same dish. Such a work of competition of authentic and adapted audience foods help start bringing dishes like poke into the mainstream. Not all is bad with Poke Innovations on the mainland, since places like Wisefish Poke in New York have created a menu build-a-bowl. The Build-a-Bowl concept of Poke is not exclusive and has many variations among those who own poke shops, but for an example this article will use Wisefish Poke. The menu organizes the process of making a poke bowl from the ground up for a marketing approach of making a bowl of poke your own. It starts by the “Base” which is rice, noodles, or salad, the “Fun” which is the “Mix-Ins” with the “Sauces” and the bowls “Finishes” (aka. Garnishes), and lastly there is the “Main” that is the cubed food. The mainstream tries to define what is “real hawaiian food” and helps diners discuss if a bowl of greens with a poke mix authenticates it or not, someone who is really interested would just look into the matter himself to see what a hawaiian poke is, and how its made in Hawaii. If a poke bowl has its forms of a poke on salad, poke on rice, or poke on cold noodles, there will be more poke variations and newcomers. In the future there might even be poke that are unimaginable to current consumers with many changes and adaptations to come. Hopefully people from all regions can come to an agreement of how they can each enjoy poke bowls in their own way.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Hawaii BlogThe Hawaii is run by the Imagine Hawaii's team of writers.
Article ListState of Hawaii
Flag of Hawaii Hawaiian Nene Goose Hawaii Days New Years Day Martin Luther King Jr Day Presidents Day Kuhio Kalanianaole Day Memorial Day Kamehameha Day Independence Day Statehood Day Labor Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day Mele Kalikimaka Day Hawaii Cuisine Hawaii Food Pioneers Hawaii Cuisine Story Innovations of Hawaii Food Soup Wars in Hawaii Hawaii Establishments Hawaii Convenience Stores Hawaii Super Markets Hawaii Cooking Styles Style of Kauai Style of Oahu Style of Maui Style of Hilo Style of Kona Style of Lanai Hawaii Food Guides Guide to Hawaii Juices Guide to Hawaii Coffees Guide to Hawaii Sodas Guide to Drive Inn Burgers Guide to Saimins Guide to Hekka Hot Pots Guide to Grilled Sticks Guide to Malasadas Guide to Hawaii Pancakes Guide to Ensemadas Guide to Hawaii Fried Rices Guide to Loco Mocos Guide to Hawaii Gravies Guide to Hawaii Stews Guide to Guide to Pokes Guide to Lomis Hawaii Umeke Bowls Saimin Bowls Hawaii Sushi Bowls Hawaii Granola Bowls Hawaii Poke Salad Poke Bowls Oahu Regional Poke Maui Regional Poke Hilo Regional Poke Kona Regional Poke Hawaii Sauces Lets Talk Mayonnaise Hawaii Loco Moco Lets Talk Loco Moco Loco Moco Bowls Pohoe Red Gravy Kalima White Gravy Hawaii Saimin Lets Talk Saimin Saimin Secrets at Home Prawn Saimin Hawaii Saimin Chef Hawaii Rice Lets Talk Fried Rice Hawaii Filleter Hawaii Pokemasters Hawaii Chop Suey Manapua Deliverers Hawaii Okazuya Going to Hawaii Okazuya Hawaii Regional Okazuya People of Hawaii Okazuya The Okazuya Experience Nostalgia of Okazuya Challenges of Okazuya Hawaii Musubimasters Hawaii Barbecue Starting Hawaii Barbecue Hawaii Regional Barbecue Hawaii Barbecue Experience Hawaii Grillmasters Hawaii Imu Pitmasters Hawaii Imu Oven Hawaii Psychology Hawaii Figures James Cook Kamehameha Kuhio Kalanianaole Hawaii Psychology Hawaii Citizenship Hawaii Social Life Collection Obsession Rain Sun and Rainbows Island House Humidity The Spirits of Aloha Ohana Hawaiian Island Fever Hawaii Martial Arts Lua Martial Arts CategoriesMatt MaedaCook, artist, and writer |