I'll readily admit that I was sniffing around for Poke from the moment our plane touched down. There are many creative and tasty version of this classic Hawaiian dish on the Mainland, but many times I just want simple down home Poke, made with fresh ingredients, and with the classic flavoring that I grew up eating. The Missus has also been caught in my "Poke madness", on a vacation with Her girlfriend on the Big Island last year, She ate Poke at least once a day(even 3 times on an occasion). They basically lived out of KTA Superstores….. I've been known to haunt Tamashiro's, Tanioka's, Foodlands, Als Moana Farmers Market, and on and on……
Which lead to our first stop for Poke….Safeway(yes, Safeway) Kahului.
We marched into Safeway, and searched for a Fish Counter. The Market has to have a fish counter. Sorry, but prepackaged Poke won't cut it with me.
When we arrived at the Fish Counter I noticed something interesting….
There was Poke made with fish with a "previously frozen" tag as well as Poke made with "fresh" fish. Of course we went with the fish labeled fresh…..
The Ahi Poke(Yellowfin or Big Eye Tuna).
Dry and a bit off tasting.
Aku Poke(Skipjack):
Aku is known to be a "fattier" Tuna, and thus will have a stronger flavor. This poke had alot of the white tough and inedible connective tissue. It was also on the "dry" side. Not very good at all. Makes me think I maybe shoulda tried the Poke made with the previously frozen fish?
One of the Missus's new obsessions; Tako Wasabi. Raw Tako marinated in a slightly sweet-wasabi marinade, this was as good as any I've had.
Even though the Poke was lousy, we did a return visit so the Missus could get Her Tako Wasabi fix. The service was rather disinterested, and this really did show up in the flavor and quality of the Poke….Auwe!
Safeway
170 E Kamehameha Ave
Kahului, HI 96732
So having been truly disappointed, we started asking around….and got alot of "this place makes good sashimi", and that sort…. Finally, a few locals recommended Safeway, but "not da' one stay in Wailuku…but right hea' in dis mall". Which happened to be the Lahaina Cannery Mall.
By this time we were a bit doubtful, until we marched up to the fish counter, and started ordering.
At which time this Gentleman put the brakes on the ordering.
He froze me with His steely gaze, and said "how do you know what you like, if you nevah' tasted?" And held up samples of the different versions on toothpicks. He went on to explain on how he made each version, how fresh everything was; "we get da' fish at 430am, clean 'em and……." Now this was a Guy who was proud of the fruits of His labor!
So the Ahi Limu:
Very clean and refreshing, with flavors of the ocean. The fish was fresh, and the texture(crunch of the Limu, meatiness of fish) pretty good, though the Missus thought it was under salted.
The Ahi Shoyu was by far the Missus's favorite, to the tune of going back for this four times.
Great balanced flavor, not too salty, with a touch of sweetness provided by the uber-fresh medium quality fish.
The Tako Poke.
The Missus didn't care for the large pieces of Tako, but I enjoyed the sweet onion.
The Ahi Poke was my personal favorite. This Ahi Poke was updated with the flavor of wasabi, so it had a slight kick. Delici-yoso!!!
The Kimchee Tako Poke was pretty good, though maybe a tad too sour. But it still disappeared….
Well how's that? Two Safeways, two different Fish Counters, big difference!
Safeway
1221 Honoapiilani Hwy
Lahaina, HI 96761
For more info on Poke; Alan, who does the Food Blog Ma'ona has written what I think is probably one of my favorite posts ever on Poke. And just for the heck of it, here's my humble Poke Recipe.
One morning the Missus, My MIL & FIL decided to take a walk down at the end of Office Road. We walked along the edge of the Golf Course which featured a nice view of Fleming's Beach.
After skirting along the edge of the Golf Course we came to the lava formation called Dragon's Teeth. Created during one of the last lava flows on Maui, the forces of the wind and sea created this novel lava formation.
This pleasant little walk provided glimpses of nature's, and man's creations. As viewed by this maze we found.
At the end of the walk is Makalua-puna Point, capping off a walk with the glorious view of the ocean's power.
If taking this walk please respect the Honokahua Preservation Site, where ancient Hawaiian burial sites were discovered when ground was broken for the construction of the Ritz Carlton. In it's time the discovery created quite a stir.