Have you heard of poke? It is a Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish, usually served with rice or vegetables. It’s everywhere, (and it is pronounced pokay not poke, by the way).
But what do you drink with it? A light lager would be the traditional match but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t match it with a wine, a cocktail or a soft drink for that matter. Here are my top seven suggestions
Riesling
A crisp fresh young Riesling – from the Okanagan Valley or Washington State, for example – would be delicious
Grüner Veltliner
If in doubt turn to Grüner. Especially with Asian flavours
Sake
Poke is actually not that different in flavours from sushi and although the Japanese wouldn’t traditionally drink a rice-based drink with rice there’s no reason why you shouldn’t.
A good crisp pils
C’mon! You can do better than a Bud! Buy a proper German pils or helles or a crisp craft lager. They’ll all pair well with poke.
Pina colada
Bring back those retro cocktails! We should stop being sniffy about Pina colada and drink it with the kind of food for which it was intended.
And thinking pineapple and coconut, pineapple juice would also be a good (and appropriately Hawaiian) pairing as would ultra-fashionable sweet, creamy coconut water. Or play around with Marks & Spencer’s range of tropical drinks such as Coconut and Lime rum. (No, they’re not paying me to suggest that!)
If you want to know more about poke read this excellent introduction from Bon Appetit.
By Fiona Beckett