Mel Brencius is an active presence in the Southern California educational community who teaches within the Buena Park School District. A self-described foodie, Mel Brencius keeps up on culinary trends and enjoys trying out new restaurants.
One dish that has appeared on an increasing number of menus across the country over the past decade is poke, pronounced “poh-kay.” Loosely translated as “to slice” or “cut into pieces” in Hawaiian, poke traditionally involved fresh-caught reef fish cut into cubed-shaped pieces and seasoned with sea salt, ground kukui nuts, and seaweed. The dish later evolved to incorporate elements of Asian cuisine, which introduced a soy sauce marinade and replaced reef fish with deep-sea fish like tuna. Since then, poke recipes have begun featuring other types of seafood.
Today, a classical poke consists of chopped or cubed raw tuna that has been marinated in a combination of soy sauce, onions, and sesame oil, sometimes with a side of white rice. The key to an exceptional poke experience is selecting the freshest seafood possible. Common alternatives to tuna include octopus, yellowtail, ono, and salmon. Garnish options in mainland-inspired variations of poke are innumerable, but traditional preparation limits them to native Hawaiian ingredients.
