A Slightly Hokey Poke...

You put some "Lenten" in,
You take some red meat out,
You put some "Hawaiian" in,
And you don't have to do without...

Lent. God's way of telling me I don't eat enough fish.

Normally, I'm not a major carnivore, but for some reason having to do without makes that little bit of beef, pork or chicken I do have in my diet that much better. Still, this time of year is as good as any to explore the ocean and try to find something more interesting than fish sticks, tuna salad or pasta.

The same 48-hour bender of Hawaiian-themed travel shows that produced our planned trip to Maui also exposed me to a classic recipe done up by Sam Choy, the original "Never Trust a Skinny Chef." In a quick cooking segment he made poke, a Hawaiian classic of chopped raw ahi tuna flavored with tons of island love (translation: soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and sweet onions). Given my upcoming fast and constant hunger for all things aloha, I took note of the recipe and vowed to explore it later.

All the pieces came together when I found a great recipe for poke written by Joan Namkoong on the Eat Feed recipe page. It seemed like a perfect meal for a Lenten Friday dinner.

Still, there are a few problems. Atlanta is a long way from the fertile waters of the Pacific Ocean, and tuna doesn't exactly like traveling long distances. Lacking sushi-quality tuna (within my budget), I substituted salmon, which is available at my supermarket. It too is not of suitable quality to be consumed raw, so I steamed it and let it cool to room temperature.

I'd also advise using a microplane to grate the ginger instead of mincing it as the recipe suggests so you don't get chunks of ginger in the marinade. Cut back to 1 teaspoon if you do it this way, as the increased surface area really kicks up the ginger flavor.

Half of the Eat Feed recipe (made with honey) is roughly 14 points and feeds 2-3 people.

This really doesn't make the dish poke, but since the flavorings were similar I decided to use artistic license and fudge it. My poke went particularly well with some warm white rice (topped with nori) and a few slices of fresh cut pineapple.

The result? An awesomely tasty dish and a little something tropical for an otherwise normal winter day.

Update 3/18 - This recipe has been corrected for points value.

Update 3/31 - I've had the opportunity to try real Ahi Poke at the Old Lahaina Luau in Hawaii, and frankly my variation is similar in spirit only. The real stuff is incredible. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Update 4/7 - This photo was entered in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This photography contest!