Ahi Poke Cups
Hawaiian-style raw tuna cubes with sesame, soy, and green onion served in wonton cups
- 1 lbsashimi-grade ahi tuna(cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
- 3 tbspsoy sauce(use tamari for gluten-free)
- 1 tbspsesame oil
- 1 tsprice vinegar
- 2green onions(thinly sliced)
- 1 tbspsesame seeds
- 1 tspfresh ginger(minced)
- 24wonton cups(or rice cracker cups for GF)
- 1avocado(diced, for topping)
- 1Keep tuna ice-cold until ready to prepare
- 2Cut tuna into uniform 1/2-inch cubes
- 3Gently combine tuna with soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, green onions, sesame seeds, and ginger
- 4Let marinate 10-15 minutes in refrigerator
- 5Spoon poke into wonton cups just before serving
- 6Top each with a small piece of avocado and extra sesame seeds
Use sashimi-grade tuna only. Cube fish uniformly for even seasoning. Mix gently to avoid breaking fish. Assemble in cups just before serving to prevent soggy wonton. For gluten-free, use rice cracker cups or endive leaves.
Poke (pronounced POH-kay) is one of Hawaii's oldest culinary traditions, predating Western contact by centuries. Native Hawaiians — among the Pacific's most skilled fishermen — seasoned freshly caught reef fish with pa'akai (Hawaiian sea salt), limu (seaweed harvested from the reef), and inamona (crushed roasted kukui, or candlenut), and ate it raw immediately after the catch. The word poke translates from Hawaiian as "to cut crosswise into pieces," describing the crosswise slicing technique. Britannica confirms that commercial deep-sea fishing made ahi (yellowfin tuna) widely available only from the 1960s onward; before that, most poke was made from nearshore reef species like aku (skipjack tuna) and he'e (octopus). Japanese workers arrived in Hawaii in the late 1800s to work sugarcane plantations, bringing soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion, which gradually merged with the native preparation. According to food historian Rachel Laudan, the shoyu-and-sesame form of poke that most people recognize today solidified in popularity around the 1970s. The cup presentation served over crispy wonton cups is a 20th-century adaptation that makes the dish practical as a handheld party bite while preserving the essential flavors of the Hawaiian original.