Poke is everywhere now. Walk into any health-food-adjacent lunch spot in a major US city and you’ll find some version of it on the menu. The mainland craze is real. But the mainland version and the Hawaiian original are two different things.
Hawaii is where poke was born. Food historian Rachel Laudan, author of The Food of Paradise, traces modern poke to the 1970s in Hawaii. The connection to the islands’ deep Japanese cultural heritage is obvious. It’s sashimi, rethought and reassembled.
For anyone who hasn’t had it: diced raw fish — usually ahi tuna — tossed with soy sauce, sesame oil, onions, and whatever else the cook decides to add. Some versions go heavy on rice. Others fold in mango or pineapple. The flavor combinations get creative fast.
Hawaii is the homeland of poke and the best place on Earth to eat it. Here’s where to go on each island.
