TROPICAL TASTE - Fiddlehead Fern & Shrimp Poke Salad

The word poke (poh-keh) in the Hawaiian language means to cut up food in tiny bite size pieces. 

Poke was traditionally made with raw fish or shellfish, such as 'ahi (yellowfin or bigeye tuna), 'opihi (limpets), crawfish and other sea delicacies mixed in with certain seaweeds and Hawaiian sea salt or inamona for seasoning.  Inamona is a paste made by mashing or chopping the 'meat' of the roasted kukui nut (from the candlenut tree) with salt.  Kukui nuts are very rich in oils and by making the paste or chopping in very small pieces and mixing with sea salt, results in a very rich seasoning, to be used sparingly.

Today, poke can be made with both raw or cooked seafood.  Poke is usually served as pupu or appetizer.  The following poke made with warabi and lightly cooked shrimp was made to be enjoyed as a salad.

Warabi (in Japanese), ho'i'o (in Hawaiian), or fiddlehead ferns are found growing wild on all of the Hawaiian islands and are a popular green to use in salads, pickles and I also love it as a cream soup. 

The fiddlehead ferns are a rich source of Vitamins A and C and have a deep green color.  The taste is a combination of asparagus, tender green beans and okra.  The variety found in Hawaii is the Braken, Pteridium aquilinum, found worldwide.   To make them edible you have to cook them as they contain a toxin that is neutralized when cooking.

In mainland markets you can usually find the edible Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, during it's growing season in the spring and early summer months. 

Look for smooth, shiny, dark green and tighly coiled fiddleheads covered with a light tan 'fuzz'.  Snap the stem off at the point of resistance, same as you would when snapping an asparagus spear.  If not planning on using right away, refrigerate them, tightly wrappped, for no more than 2 days.  Do not wash them until ready to use of they will turn viscous.

Photo by Sonia - the original salad was made by a friend during one of our foodie group dinners in the park. 

I have since made this recipe several times and I like to combine it with the dressing below.

Fiddlehead Fern & Shrimp Poke Salad

Wash the 'fuzz' off the fiddlehead ferns and trim the ends.  Snap them into bite size pieces.  Cook briefly by steaming, simmering or sauteing for about 5 minutes.  Plunge them in cold water to stop the cooking process so they will have a bit of a crispy bite to them.  Set aside.

Wash the limu or ogo or other type seaweed thoroughly and chop into smaller pieces.  Set aside

Briefly cook the shrimp until just turning pink.  You want them crisp without the rubbery feel when overcooked.  Set aside.

Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Cut and slice the daicon or radish into bite size pieces.

Cut, seed and chop the red bell pepper.

Mix all of the ingredients together and dress with the sauce or dressing.  Cover and place in the refrigerator at least an hour before serving.  If taking it somewhere with you, or serving it buffet style, make sure you keep it cold or you can serve it nestled in a bowl within a bowl in which you have added ice cubes.

The sauce or dressing for this 'poke salad' , except for the addition of tiny Hawaiian chile peppers, comes originally from the cookbook "Go Home, Cook Rice: A Guide to Buying and Cooking the Fresh Foods of Hawai'i by Joan Namkoong.  Joan is a foodie friend who was the food editor for the Honolulu Advertiser for many years.  She now lives on the Big Island.

Sauce or Dressing

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, ground

I like to add a couple of finely minced tiny, red Hawaiian Chile peppers.  In the absence of the Hawaiian Chiles, you can use any hot peppers you prefer or have available.  The Tabasco chiles are very much like our tiny Hawaiian chiles.

The premier authority in Hawaii on poke is Chef Sam Choy, who every year sponsors a poke contest on the Big Island in the fall.  If you click on the link above, you can read about when I attended a Poke 101 class presented by Chef Sam Choy a few years ago.

		Sonia Martinez, Gather Food Correspondent
	Sonia's column, 'Tropical Taste' is a regular twice-monthly feature of Gather Essentials: Food. Sonia is a cookbook author and freelance food writer for several publications in Hawaii, and is also a Hawaii Island Journal restaurant reviewer in partnership with her son Anthony Mathis.  She lives in a beautiful rural rainforest area on the Big Island of Hawaii. You can keep up with Sonia's adventures and ongoing love affair with Hawaii by joining her network, or visiting her food & garden blog at Sonia Tastes Hawaii.