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Poke Bowls: My Top 5

Poke (pronounced poké) is one of my absolute favorite foods. Fresh, flavorful, and photogenic, i.e., Instagram worthy. A beloved local pupu (appetizer) when served over rice transforms into one of the best lunches you could possibly have. Here are my Top 5 fave poke bowls…

1 Ahi Assassins
If you’re lucky enough to find parking (located across from Puck’s Alley,) make your way up to the 2nd floor. This is the freshest, top grade ahi that I’ve ever had in poke. I like the Hawaiian style variety. Old-school. Inamona. Melt-in-your-mouth goodness…

2 Kahiau Jerky Poke & Provisions
New shop located in Chinatown. Always fresh, never frozen. Go for the Cold Ginger Ahi or Kahiau Special… or both. They even feature a Poke-of-the-Day. Poke Bombs are inari sushi cones topped with Spicy Ahi. Sells out fast.

3 Off the Hook
Poke Market is across from the Manoa Valley Shopping Center (and next to Starbucks.) Fresh fish, great toppings, and seating. Really like their Cold Ginger and Shoyu flavors…

4 Tanioka’s
While living in Waikele, this was my go-to place. Great quality fish and a ton of great menu items (fried chicken, salmon patties, tofu patties, etc.) I like their Onion Limu Poke. Check out their pop-up at Ala Moana Center for a limited time.

5 Maguro Brothers
Find them in Chinatown inside the Kekaulike Market. Fresh fish, Kaisen-don, even King Salmon here. I really like their Hamachi Poke Bowl, flavored with soy and wasabi. Winnahs…

Also a big fan of Tamura’s, but I’ve never had a poke bowl there.

If you’ve only had poke bowls from Foodland, please try these suggestions. And lemme know if you have any recommendations. Always eager to expand my poke horizons…

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Saturday Japanese Class

I’ve been teaching myself Japanese through daily self-study since February. It has become my passion. たのしいです。They say that you can acquire a language quicker if you live in the country (“immersion.”) So I’ve been trying to virtually immerse myself in the language & culture through YouTube, apps, music, anime, travel, and even grocery shopping. The only thing lacking was the opportunity to converse with native speakers.

I signed up for the UH-Mānoa Outreach Japanese class this Fall. We meet on Saturday mornings on campus at Sakamaki Hall. I found out about the class from ふみこせんせい who taught summer school at Kamehameha. She is awesome! I really enjoy the class and my classmates.

After class, we have optional conversation sessions with volunteer native speakers. We speak half-hour in 日本語, then half-hour in English. It has been amazing so far! すごいです！Everyone has been so kind. Aside from practicing the language (which is already great,) I’ve been able to make friends from Japan. In fact, one of the volunteers lives in my building! びっくりしました！We hope to meet up at Mr. Tea Café for weekly practice.

This class has been an absolute blessing. I’m truly enjoying this journey on hopefully becoming fluent in three years. がんばります。

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Washoku

In my Japanese language self-study, I’ve been immersing myself in the culture. Washoku is traditional Japanese cuisine. I’ve been eating Japanese food all my life, and only now do I notice that the bowl of rice is always on the front-left side. The foundation of Japanese cuisine is called “ichiju sansai,” meaning “one soup – three dishes.”

This pic is of my washoku style tableware. The chopstick rest was gifted to me by Lance-bro. The chawan (rice bowl) front-left is from the old Shirokiya from 10 years ago. The beautiful, wooden shiruwan (soup bowl) front-right is from the Rice Factory. The mame zara (tiny plate) in the middle is for tsukemono. In the rear are the “three dishes.” The nimono bowl (simmered dish) back-left and aemono dish back-middle are from the Itadakimasu gift shop in McCully. The sashimi dish, back-right was gifted by friends from ERD.

Picked up a few of these bowls to motivate me to cook more. To learn more about washoku and ichiju sansai, click on this link. Hope that eating Japanese food will help me to learn Japanese better. Sure can’t hurt…

いただきます。