Rated the number one favorite food of the North Shore by Surfer Magazine, Kahuku Superette’s poke – pronounced po kay – has become an island specialty for both locals and tourists of all nationalities.
Located across the street from Kahuku High School, this world-renowned convenience store offers a wide variety of food and variations of poke.
The Kahuku Superette was also included in Surfline.com’s list of the North Shore’s best-eating establishments. Harmon Lee, the husband of the Superette's owner, said the store’s fame has spread mostly “through word of mouth,” and he said Japanese tour buses make time to stop so tourists have a chance to try local food.
Lee added, “One guy made a video, too. He just filmed with his camera and put it on the Internet.”
Poke is a fish salad similar to Latin American ceviche or Japanese sashimi. According to Ulukau.org, an online Hawaiian dictionary, poke is a verb meaning “to slice” or “to cut crosswise into pieces.” Poke is typically comprised of cubed raw fish.
Store-bought poke is a hybrid of Hawaiian and East Asian cuisine. Poke concoctions usually include soy sauce, sesame oil and seeds, and occasionally include wasabi, kimchi, seaweed, green onions and chili peppers. Every order almost always has a generous foundation of steamed white rice and a pair of chopsticks.
The most popular seafood used in poke is ‘ahi, which is the Hawaiian word for tuna. Other varieties include octopus, salmon, and shellfish. Beets can also be used as a vegan option. Lee said, “If I eat poke, I’ll eat tuna [poke] first.”
The species of fish used affects both price and taste. Lee said the Superette uses both Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna. “Yellowfin is okay. The Bigeye gets a little bit rounder.” Lee said roundness yields more poke as it is diced just behind the store counter into small cubes. In the islands, both Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna are commonly referred to as ‘ahi.
Despite Kahuku Superette’s reputation and fame, some people prefer poke produced at other venues. Berit Gatoloai, a senior majoring in graphic design from Germany, said, “I prefer Foodland’s poke. The [poke] in Hauula is amazing, too!”
Upon considering what distinguishes good poke from the average or bad, Lee said, “I don’t know. It all depends on who makes it, and the quality of the fish.”
Kahuku Superette’s poke was praised by Inoka Kahawaii, a senior from Laie majoring in interdisciplinary studies, who said of it, “Ono dat one. Broke da mout.”
Poke is most often sold by the pound. Prices are subject to fluctuation, as tuna is in high demand throughout the Pacific and becoming increasingly scarce.
According to the New York Times, “Global seafood consumption has increased consistently to the point where we now remove more wild fish and shellfish from the oceans every year than the weight of the human population of China.”
Due to the ocean’s dwindling supply of tuna, the price of poke is likely to rise.