Where is the Poke?

BTW, they do sell out of the crispy onion on occasion (FYI)…

I finally tried the cafeteria style poke bowl at a place on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City near Fulton Avenue. It was fine and they had three sizes and a nice warning not to wait more than an hour to eat food to go. If anyone wants I can look it up.

More importantly, does anyone know where I can get aku Poke? As opposed to ahi poke made clear from tuna, aku poke is made from Bonito/skipjack.

http://foodtalkcentral.com/t/sea-salt-poke-a-pictorial-essay

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[quote=“Jerome, post:31, topic:3592”]
As opposed to ahi poke made clear from tuna, aku poke is made from Bonito/skipjack.
[/quote] That was an interesting tidbit. Maybe that’s why I found the albacore at Mainland a little bland.

I can’t find aku poke anywhere in Southern California.

As far as the spread and appeal, it’s interesting. I never saw this kind of poke bowl in Hawaii. The freshness doesn’t really concern because the fish is marinated, or is supposed to be marinated at least . It’s more like ceviche bowl

What I finally got struck me more as a build your own chirashi sushi bowl (without the vinegar-marinated rice). As for the fish, not at all reminiscent of the interestingly marinated punk I got in Hawaii.

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No this SoCal poke craze is not like legit Hawaiian grindz poke. This is poke meats chipotle.

Here is a previous thread with some seemingly more legit options: Santa Monica Poke? - #29 by Porthos

[quote=“Jerome, post:34, topic:3592”]
the fish is marinated, or is supposed to be marinated at least . It’s more like ceviche bowl
[/quote] Yeah, Mainland doesn’t pre-marinate. In fact the server states this like it’s a selling point. You choose a marinade that they splash on the rice & fish before adding other ingredients. Yeah, I love ceviche.

Well this is just flat out wrong.

I think you are wrong. Literally.

Sure eater15 might have exaggerated but it appears those articles point out more exceptions than the rule. Still, they highlight that more are aware of the issues related to catch, logistics and sustainability. My fear is that like our group, they are small in number relative to the general sushi and seafood market in general, and like yelp, most tend to fall in that other group.

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Cool stuff @ipsedixit. Thanks. I like the unique ways these restaurants are coming up with to let you know what’s on your plate. I have the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch app on my phone. But it’s so hard to figure out. It goes something like this: You can have this type of farmed seafood, but not this type of farmed seafood, and only if it’s from this region of said country, and only if the farm uses this method, blah blah blah. You have to spend 15 minutes reading your phone, then ask your server 10 questions just to find out if the shrimp on the menu is ok to eat. It’s like f_ _ _ it. I’ll just take my chances or stick to wild-caught salmon.

Don’t order red snapper - it’s more likely freshwater tilapia filled with parasites…

Tuna likely scary $2.00/lb loins… As a point of reference (see pic), lower quality whole tuna auction prices are around $2.5 - 4ish /lb. Better quality fish trades in the low teens $.

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Goodness gracious. Good thing I don’t like snapper.

[quote=“Sgee, post:41, topic:3592”]
Tuna likely scary $2.00/lb loins…
[/quote] Wait. What does that mean?

Okay. Got it.

Where these guys are potentially sourcing their fish. The “hidden secret” is basically leftovers of what they were not able to sell during the week. http://www.sanpedro.com/gallery_94/San_Pedro_Sat_Morn_Fish_Market.htm.

I visited the Saturday market several years ago, hoping for “Tsukiji” in LA. Instead saw lots of folks carting off large quantities of $2/lb tuna loins, likely destined for AYCE joints. I wonder if they’re ending up at Poke joints too these days.

I’d pop some deworming tablets if you’re a regular at these Poke / AYCE joints.

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Party pooper :smirk:. But just kidding… grateful for the enlightenment. The question did cross my mind about how is it the seafood is less expensive at poke places than sushi places. I thought maybe because it’s easier to prepare and doesn’t take knife cutting expertise.

As far as AYCE, I haven’t been a fan since I was young and broke… or in Vegas :grin:.

@bulavinaka was right, I was exaggerating, a bit… so maybe my use of the word “literally” was obnoxious and I apologize.

But I must be missing something in your links, because they all seem to indicate exactly what I’m saying. There’s an article about local fish being served in NY and Miami – not LA. There’s an article about a chef buying fish from the local ports in LA – fish that comes predominantly from thousands of miles away, including entirely different oceans. Those vessels coming into that port with fish are not all fishing in our backyard – in fact, most aren’t.

The third article is actually about a local sushi chef, and it says "Sixty to seventy percent of Hiro’s sushi menu is sourced from Japan through a trusted purveyor, but it’s the early morning hours on the corner of 7th and San Pedro where Chef Hiro selects local fish from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as shellfish like oysters which he dresses with dashi and yuzu zest. This morning at 6am there were at least 40 varieties of whole fish on offer including idiot fish, king mackarel, loup de mer, yellow jack from Hawaii and black snapper from New Zealand. A separate area for shellfish housed geoduck, razor clams and oysters.

Maybe it helps that I’m a fisherman and fish geek extraordinaire, but those fish listed aren’t local fish and the “pacific coast” fish mentioned likely include pacific halibut, salmonids, “idiot fish” aka channel cod aka thornyhead, and other species not found or fished commercially in our waters, and possibly yellowfin tuna and various grouper and snapper species again mostly found hundreds of miles to the south. If I used “literally” improperly, they’re definitely using “local” improperly by including even fish from the Atlantic. Maybe I’m crazy, but that’s not local.

There are the very occasional local delicacies you might find at a local sushi bar. Local albacore, when they’re around (it’s been several years), the local bluefin are considered inferior to the bluefin from other locales but are still great (see pic below) and of course the local urchins are considered among the best.

But many of our local reef fish are illegal to commercially fish. Many others can only be caught by net or by spear, and neither method is permitted for commercial fishermen in inshore areas where these fish live. Finally, most of our fish don’t tend to have as nice a flavor as the fish caught elsewhere, for purely natural reasons.

So maybe fudge that 5000 number to about 800, and change “none” to 99%, and I stand by what I said.

I would like to see a sushi bar serving local yellowtail, local bonito, local white sea bass, local halibut (it can be wormy though), even other less glamorous fish like barracuda or opaleye would be interesting to have prepared by a real sushi chef. But that’s not what you get. I’ve never seen most of that stuff on sushi bar menus. I’ve seen Japanese and other foreign analogues of these fish – but not the local stuff. As far as local yellowtail goes, it’s a decent plate of sushi but not even remotely comparable to the farmed hamachi or wild Japanese yellowtail.

By the way – I just have to do it – this is toro from a bluefin I shot in our backyard… warning, NSFW

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Looks delicious.

Would you say L.A. restaurants don’t use local seafood, because it doesn’t taste good? And if it doesn’t taste good is it because of pollution? What do think about seafood from Mexico?

It’s very clunky, hopefully they keep improving it and it has become very difficult to be a discerning responsible eater.

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