It’s Not Poke or Sashimi: Here Are 6 Other Ways Uncooked Fish is Served in Hawai‘i

KOREAN

hoe deop-bap

Sorabol, $20

Daikon spirals, kizami nori and masago conceal a bed of firm cubed tuna and salmon over crisp greens. Mix the accompanying bowl of hot rice into the cool fish and greens, with generous lashings of the florid gochujang vinaigrette, which binds the hoe deop-bap in a purgatory of sweet tanginess and lingering heat.

SEE ALSO: Poke As We Know It Now Isn’t Native Hawaiian. So What Is?

PERUVIAN

ceviche

Mimi’s Peruvian Cuisine, $18

To know Peru’s ceviche, one must first be acquainted with leche de tigre, the hypnotic umami concoction of lime juice, puréed peppers, onion and garlic that firms and cures cuts of fresh raw mahimahi. No acidic drop is spared; ask for the glorious dregs in a shot glass.

SEE ALSO: Editor’s Page: At Its Core, Poke is a Humble Dish

ITALIAN

carpaccio

Photo: Olivier Koning

Mad Bene, $15

Paper thin slips of ‘ahi fan out over a briny aioli infused with anchovies and capers. Over the top, crisp fried croutons, capers, smoked chile oil and shallot are offset with a spritz of lemon. The result is an effusive version of a rustic Italian classic.

SEE ALSO: First Look: Mad Bene, a New Italian-American Restaurant in Kapolei

NORDIC

gravlax

Tango Contemporary Café, $12

Gravlax is about as simple as an Ikea assembly manual. Gorgeous salmon fillets are lightly cured in salt, sugar and a forest floor of fresh dill. A few days later, the sunset orange-pink flesh is cleaned, carved and served with crispy-crackly salmon skins and a zippy mustard dill sauce.

SEE ALSO: 5 We Tried: We Search for the Best Poke at Tamashiro Market

SAMOAN

oka

Tamashiro Market, $10.95 a pound

Variations of raw fish marinated in lime juice and coconut milk abound throughout the Pacific, including poisson cru in Tahiti, kokoda in Fiji and oka in Samoa. Tamashiro’s oka combines a white fish such as hebi with tomatoes, cucumber and onion in a light silky bath.

SEE ALSO: Everything You Need to Know About Eating at an Izakaya

JAPANESE

bara chirashi

Photo: Sean Morris

Sushi Izakaya Gaku, $30

Perhaps one of the original raw fish and rice bowls, bara chirashi is like the chopped salad of sushi bowls, featuring cubed fish mixed and scattered over sushi rice. It’s at its most luxe at Gaku, with varying textures of seafood, including shiromi, maguro, hamachi and saba, interspersed with uni and ikura. –Martha Cheng