Poke in the park

Eating raw tuna and shoyu is an incredible experience so who would have thought taking it one step further was possible. Thank you Hawaiian Japanese cooks for creating this utterly fantabulous dish that has made my taste buds seize up in tantric orgasms on many an occasion. The poke pictured here was homemade in London, thus the recipe (as most are) was somewhat improvised. I've made it before with just tuna, garlic and the dressing, which still tastes excellent but lacks the oceanic depth of flavour created by the additional ingredients. The simple combination of succulent cubes of raw tuna, wakame and spring onions tossed in minced garlic, shoyu, sesame oil and a dash of hot curry powder creates a wonderfully refreshing salad like dish that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

So many fond memories of this dish whilst in Japan. Watching as my tabedachi (tabemono tomodachi) demonstrated culinary alchemy. Picnics in Kiba park, sitting under the shade of a low tree, scooping helpings of fresh poke into paper cups and observing our fellow park goers. Model plane jiichans losing planes in trees and asking baseball playing guys to climb trees and throw balls at the little crafts wedged high up in the branches. Young couples taking time out in thier weekend to relax in the great outdoors beneath a great blue cloud speckled sky, laying side by side on the grass playing their respective NDSs. Hard working salary men spending time with their families by sleeping in a near comatose state on a bench only to wake and find only the right side of thier face roasted pink from the overhead sun. Good times.