Poke - the Hawaiian Fisherman's Friend

Cooking in a hot kitchen when it's hot outside sucks. Even worse is standing in front of a hot grill when it's hot and muggy out, and the air quality is poor. On days like this, consider making a poke (pronounced “po-keh,”) bowl, a popular Hawaiian dish made from diced raw fish that can be served as either an appetizer or a main course. Created by fishermen who took leftover pieces of raw tuna or octopus and mixed it with a marinade of Hawaiian sea salt, seaweed, and roasted local nuts (among other ingredients), poke differs from ceviche because it doesn't use citrus juice as a marinade; this prevents the proteins of the fish from rearranging or denaturing as if heat were applied to them. The popularity of poke has exploded over the years, influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines, as well as mainland additions such as sauces like soy, teriyaki, and sriracha, and fresh items like avocado, pineapple, cucumber, edamame, and green onions. Added to a base of cooked rice, this light refreshing meal is perfect whenever the mercury rises.

Ingredients:

454 g sushi or sashimi-grade fish, cut into bite-size pieces (salmon and tuna are good choices)

• Avoid using frozen fish (the cold affects the texture of the fish)

60 mL low-sodium soy sauce
10 mL rice vinegar
10 mL sesame oil
5 g freshly grated ginger
5 g toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
2 green onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
cooked room temperature white or brown rice
edamame
shredded carrots
sliced avocado, cucumber, radish
chopped macadamia nuts (optional)
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, some of the green onions and sesame seeds, and the red pepper flakes if you choose to use them.
2. Add the chopped fish and toss to coat it with the marinade. Refrigerate everything for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
3. Add the rice to the bottom of four bowls. Top with the marinated fish and any of the toppings. Garnish with the remaining green onions and sesame seeds before serving. Offer both Keypie mayonnaise or sriracha sauce as a topping.

Poke tastes best if it's eaten the same day it is prepared. Refrigerated and stored in sealed containers, poke can keep for up to 2 days. If it starts to look slimy, don't eat it.

Summertime Ceviche

Ever since I first tasted it at a cooking class at Urban Element I've been a fan of ceviche. It's the perfect dish for these steamy summer days when you don't want to add more heat to your home by turning on an oven. Ceviche is made using acids (citrus juices) that cause the proteins in the seafood used in the recipe to change on a molecular level similar to the change that occurs when the proteins are cooked. I like to use the recipe in my favourite cookbook, "Cooking For Geeks", with the addition of an element I learned at the Urban Element; I also like to listen to listen to Action Bronson's "Ceviche" while making this, but that's strictly optional.

Ingredients:

500 g bay scallops, rinsed and patted dry
130 g lime juice
60 g lemon juice
15 g ketchup
7 g garlic, chopped on run through a garlic press
18 mL olive oil
4 mL balsamic vinegar
1 small red onion (70 g ), sliced as thinly as possible
1 shallot bulb, sliced as thinly as possible
1 plantain
canola oil

1. Mix everything but the scallops, plantain and the canola oil in a bowl. Add the scallops to the bowl and make sure everything gets covered by the marinade. Cover the bowl securely and store it in the fridge. Mix everything up again in two hours, then allow it to sit overnight to allow the acids to do there thing.
2. Before you're ready to serve the ceviche, preheat 3 cm of canola oil to 190 C in a large skillet over medium-high heat (or plug in your deep fryer if you have one). Cut the ends from the unpeeled plantain, then halve it crosswise. Peel the plantain then cut it lengthwise into very thin slices (use a mandolin if you have it). Fry the strips in batches, turning frequently, until they are golden. Drain on paper towels, and season immediately with kosher salt.
3. Take out the ceviche from the fridge, and plate it. Top with the fried plantain you have made.