Recipe: Tuna and Avocado Poké from the YOKO Cookbook
Christel van Bree and Yoko Inagaki met in Japan when Yoko decided to start cooking for foreign guests. Their new cookbook YOKO offers a unique insight into Japanese cuisine and culture. Not only through the delicious dishes, including this tuna and avocado poké, but also through the beautiful stories and photos in the book. Through Yoko’s eyes, we see the traditional side of Japan, as well as the modern influences from abroad that have since become intertwined with the country.
Yoko: “Avocados didn’t exist during my childhood. Japan only started importing large quantities of avocados in 2002 – until then, they were an unknown and particularly expensive fruit. I ate an avocado for the first time in the kitchen of a good friend. She sliced the flesh, drizzled some soy sauce over it and assured me that it felt and tasted like fresh, fatty tuna. I didn’t really believe her, but after the first bite, I could do nothing other than agree. It really does feel like fatty tuna melting in your mouth. How incredibly delicious!
Since traditional Japanese recipes don’t actually contain avocado (the California sushi roll, for example: delicious, but not Japanese), this poké isn’t Japanese either, but Hawaiian. Japanese immigrants brought poké to Hawaii and combined it with seafood from the Hawaiian ocean. As soon as you serve this poké over a bowl of steamed rice, you transform it into poké-don (the Japanese poké bowl). Voilà!”
How to make the avocado poké
- Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Add the tuna and avocado and leave to marinate for at least 10 minutes. Arrange the poké on a plate and garnish with the shiso leaves, sesame seeds and nori.
Title: YOKO
Author: Yoko Inagaki and Christel van Bree
Price: €34.99
Publisher: Becht
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