Ahi Poke (Hawaiian Raw Tuna with Inamona)
Classic Hawaiian Ahi Poke recipe, with soy sauce, spring onions and topped with homemade inamona, or crushed kukui nuts.

- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 3 spring onions ((scallions))
- 1 small onion (or 2 shallots)
- 500 g fresh, sashimi grade tuna
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce (not dark, not sweet, click to read more)
- 3 tbsp inamona (see below)
- 1 tbsp toasted seaweed like Nori (or seaweed of your choice (optional))
- 6 kukui nuts (or 4 macadamia nuts)
- a pinch salt
Instructions
- 1
Pound the candlenuts lightly with the back of your knife to halve. Don't worry about exact proportions.
- 2
Tip all the candlenuts, including any bits, into a small frying pan and dry roast them on medium-low heat for 3 minutes.
- 3
Then turn the heat down to its lowest setting and continue toasting for another 7 minutes or so, flipping the nuts regularly. We are going for a medium brown to semi dark brown colour. The smaller pieces will darken first. Take them out if you want, I just leave them all in the pan. The burnt bits just mimic the smokiness of kukui nuts toasted in their shells.
- 4
When done, tip them out onto a plate and leave to cool while you get the other ingredients ready.
- 5
Slice the spring onions (scallions) thinly, we'll be using all of the spring onion, green and white.
- 6
Finely chop or slice the onion.
- 7
If your tuna isn't already pre cut by your fishmonger, do it now. Cut the tuna into little cubes, about 2 cm (just under 1") wide, or slightly smaller, if you like. Place the tuna cubes in a large bowl.
- 8
Remember our toasted kukui nuts? Place them in a chopper and pulse to a semi fine state. Don't keep your finger down on the button, as they'll grind too much and you will end up with a paste. Candlenuts have a very high fat content.
- 9
Now we are going to add all the other ingredients to the tuna in the bowl. Tip in the sliced spring onions and the chopped onions.
- 10
Drizzle the sesame oil and soy sauce all over, followed by 3 Tbsp of inamona and some crushed nori, about 1 Tbsp. Just crush the nori with your fingers. Now mix this all up thoroughly.
- 11
Dish up into individual bowls or side plates and top with a small sprinkling of more inamona and seaweed. Serve immediately.You could also turn this into a poke bowl by serving it over a bowl of plain white rice, with more soy sauce and sesame oil on the side.