It Feels So Good To Poke

It’s the beginning of the second week of lockdown and already I’m noticing that the idea of another night of beef, chicken or pasta is a bit tired. As ardent a carnivore as I am, terrestrial meats only satisfy me up to a point. We bought a HUGE bag of shrimp during our pre-shelter stock up but I found myself craving something different, something fresher, something raw. Something like...POKE!

Then, the other morning, I was looking at my newsfeed (depressing) and read an article that gave me an idea and justified an outing simultaneously. I didn’t know this, but San Diego was once the tuna capital of the world. I feel like Ron Burgundy could’ve done something with that. It turns out that the tuna fishermen of San Diego have been out to sea for the past month with no idea what was going on in the world. Only when they got within 50 miles of home did they learn about the pandemic and, as a result, that their wholesale contracts had been canceled. They’re pretty much fucked.

A similar situation hit the lobstermen in the Northeast. A huge chunk of their business goes to China during the Lunar Newyear. Because of obvious reasons, that business dried up. Subsequently the price of lobster has gone through the floor. We haven’t seen that so much on the West Coast, but in the East lobster is going for $7.99/lb! Lobster is a frugal freakin’ option! I wondered if the same would be true for high quality tuna here.

Turns out it is! I skipped going to the local grocery store because the lines were looking scary. Don’t even bother going to Safeway or Whole Foods. Not only are they madhouses, but they aren’t going to have what you want and they don’t need your money. Instead I went to Sun Fat Seafood and Basa Seafood Express in the Mission. Even better than just shopping local is shopping at specialists. They really need the love.

Sun Fat is a mainstay for seafood-loving home cooks. It looks pretty nondescript from the street, but when it comes to screamingly fresh seafood they’ve got the goods. I walked into an almost empty shop and immediately got sidetracked by their crazy assortment of oysters. Two cops stopped in and ogled the dozen or so different bivalves on offer with me before I took the plunge on a bunch of Fanny Bays. I’m an East Coast oyster type of guy but, again, we’re keeping it local here folks (I know Fannys are from BC, but close enough). Unfortunately I was too late on the tuna, understandably so, but with oysters in hand I was pretty satisfied that my first stop was well worth it.

If Sun Fat was out of tuna I felt fairly confident I could still get some at a great price at Basa. Basa is 80% sushi/poke/ceviche counter and 20% seafood market. Now, I could’ve just taken the easy way out and got a couple scoops of their pre-made poke but where would the fun be in that? Instead I went to their seafood counter and picked out a beautifully rich beet-red slab which they happily diced for me. 

I like making poke because it’s one of those free-form meals that you can play with, adjust and tweak forever. As long as you don’t have too heavy of a hand with the soy sauce, it’s pretty forgiving. Today I used some good quality shoyu, honey, classic furikake, scallions and shallots (it would’ve been better with sweet onions but none were available). I also threw in some toasted sesame oil and chili crunch, an amazing condiment usually meant for ramen that everyone should have in their kitchen. I mixed it all up and let it hang out while my sushi rice steamed. 

Now, I’m sure some people will cry heresy about this, but I love a boldly seasoned sushi rice. I like to taste the tangy sweetness of the sushi-zu (a combination of rice vinegar, mirin and some secrets). Purists will probably hate me for serving this with anything but simply steamed sticky rice, but it’s my house and I get to make the rules. What I will demand, though, is that you don’t serve the poke on top of hot rice. The rice needs to be room temp so don’t rush it. Let those tender little grains cool!

With my rice appropriately cooled and seasoned I assembled my hard fought poke. LOTS of rice, then the poke, topped with a moderate sprinkle of fried garlic and shallots followed by a scattering of scallion greens. Crunchy, salty-umami goodness with the perfect undercurrent of sweetness and piquancy highlighting the rich freshness of the tuna: that’s what good poke is all about. If you’ve been bracing yourself for some ridiculous Hawaiian inspired pun don’t hold your breath...this isn’t a hokey-poke. Zing!

After finishing my second bowl of poke (I added a little wasabi on helping #2), I took a moment in the back yard to feel satisfied. I supported both a local business and the struggling San Diego tuna fishermen, and was able to enjoy a super tasty yet relatively healthy meal. During such crazy times, it’s good to feel karmically bullish.