Sam Choy's Keauhou Poke Contest

The Big Island got its poke on this weekend at Sam Choy's Keauhou Poke Contest held at the Sheraton Kona. Poke (poh-KAY) is the "soul food of Hawaii," according to Choy, and is traditionally prepared with raw fish, sea salt, seaweed, spices, and kukui nuts. 

Contestants put their "braggin' in the bowl" in many creative ways, stretching the concept of traditional poke into several other categories including spicy, cooked, with soy sauce, sushi style, and non-seafood  entries. Professionals and amateurs were both invited to compete. 

My Mexican-themed table display

Creative table displays accompanied the contest entries as poke chefs presented their work to the judges. Winners were announced after poke tastings were offered to the public for a small fee that  benefited the $1 million Equip the Kitchens Campaign for the future Hawai‘i Community College-Palamanui. A complete list of winners can be found here: Poke Contest Results.

The event also included live music, Hawaiian cultural demonstrations, and an island marketplace featuring locally made products.

Guacamole Poke (photo by Fern Gavelek)

Did I enter? You know it! My Guacamole Poke grabbed 2nd place in the amateur cooked category, see recipe below. I was especially impressed with the other amateur entries this year including a beautiful traditional recipe featuring opelu and opihi by Aunty Margie Hanselman, a fancy lobster entry by high schooler Alexis Fujikawa, and a very special venison recipe by hunter Ryan Koyanagi.

Poke has deep roots in Hawaiian culture. I love that. I also love that poke has evolved over the decades to incorporate the many cultures that have found a home on the islands, too. It is at once a revered cultural dish as well as a representation of the cultural mixture that makes up Hawaii today. I hope you get the chance to enjoy some soon.

Guacamole Poke

Makes about 2 lbs of poke

1 lb Kona Kampachi filets (introduced to me by the late Guy Toyama, please support a cause Guy would have been proud of here: Memorial Fund info) 
2 TBL Hawaiian mac nut oil

2 TBL Mexican dry rub (salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, lime zest)

1 large Big Island avocado

1 Waimea tomato

1 Big Island grown green onion

½ cup Big Island grown cilantro

¼ cup Big Island lime juice

salt to taste

2 cloves garlic

1 Big Island jalapeno

taco chips to serve

Rub Kampachi filets with the Mexican dry rub. In a very hot pan, add mac nut oil. Sear both sides of the filets rare (about 1 minute each side). Cook times will vary depending on the thickness of the filets.

While fish cools, chop the avocado, tomato, onion, green onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeno. Toss very gently with lime juice and some salt.

Cut fish into chunks and very gently toss into the vegetable mixture.

Serve with taco chips. Enjoy!

Clam Digging in Oregon

The Edwards' home in Silverton, Oregon

It's Christmas eve. An impenetrable mantle of hot electric blanket has forced me out of the bed I'm sharing with Dustin at his parent's newly built house in Silverton, Oregon. We've gone to bed leaving twinkling lights downstairs and plans to host his mother's family tomorrow. The beast is waiting quietly in the fridge for his turn to be roasted and the house murmurs with Dustin's steady sleeping breath and the hum of the heater.

Earlier today as we walked the property in the brisk afternoon I couldn't help but imagine myself holed up in their tiny, red guesthouse working hard on my first novel, a pot of tea steaming on the stove  as my fingers tap, tap, tapped the keyboard. The clouds piled high above our heads as we rode the tractor back to the house.

This place has a mix of both homey familiarity and a sense of belonging I can feel nowhere else but in Oregon, where the trees and the mud and the icy mountain streams make up the very blood in my veins. This sensation grows as we trudge through the fields in high rubber boots down to a nearby creek, stopping to admire rose hips and forgotten blackberries still red and unripened on the vine. Moss grows thickly on the little wooden bridge crossing the creek and the coffee colored water rushes under us, drowning out the sound of my thumping, longing pulse.

Netarts, Oregon

Days later, after the last guest has gone, full and happy, and toting a number of tasty leftovers including smoked turkey, Yorkshire pudding, and champagne cake, I select my breakfast from the once inviting, now daunting pile of endless Christmas cookies. Blackberry brandy and eggnog have slowed me this morning but I've managed to pull on some boots and a sweater. The beach awaits.

Netarts, Oregon

We arrive in Netarts on an utterly perfect day. The sun is (almost) out and the wind has taken a break. Waves crash far offshore and the salty air creeps slowly down into my lungs. The combination of cliffs and breakers and moss and trees trees trees on the Oregon coast is like nowhere else. Lucky for us the tide is low and I came prepared with a shellfish permit.

Digging for clams in Netarts, Oregon

Rake, shovel, and bucket in hand we set off skeptically down to the sand. My dad had told me about this method of simply raking the sand and scoring clams. I doubted this claim as my memories of clam  digging as a kid were just that, digging to frigging China in the freezing sand as fast as possible before the clam out-dug you.

Oregon cockles

When you dig for clams you look for little holes in the sand, step near them, and hope the clam shoots some water up at you through the hole. That's how you know where to dig. Well, as we sloshed along the sandy bay, we saw no such holes. At all. I was beginning to look the fibber. My mother in law suggested we just start raking.

So we raked a little in the sandy tide pools and pop! up came a clam. We laughed at our luck but then pop! pop! pop! we scored more and more. Within 15 minutes we'd drawn a small crowd and the legal per day catch limit. This was definitely the easiest clam digging I'd ever done.

As you can see from the photo, these clams are quite large. They have a hard, textured shell and are technically called cockles. Before you steam, broil, slurp, or chowderize your cockles, be sure to soak them in an open container of fresh water for at least a couple hours or up to 12. Do not cover with a lid as the cockles need to be able to breath. Soaking them allows the excess sand to seep out before cooking. We skipped this step because we were so excited to eat them, but trust me, it's vital, we were eating some crunchy clams.

The recipe below is the simple way to enjoy clams. Serve with crusty bread, pasta, or hot cooked rice.

Fresh, steamed Oregon cockles

Steamed Oregon Cockles

20 cockles (or your favorite clam)
1 cup white wine (salted water or broth is fine, too)
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 TBL butter
salt & pepper to taste

After the cockles have soaked in an uncovered container of fresh water for at least 2 and up to 12 hours, rinse and set aside.

In a large pot, add wine and and garlic over medium high heat. As soon as wine begins to boil, add cockles to the pot and cover. Be sure not to crowd the cockles. It helps to have a glass lid so you know when the shells have opened.

Steam for 3-5 minutes or until shells have opened wide. Discard any that do not open. Serve with the wine/butter mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!