These 2 Mistakes Will Ruin Your Homemade Poke Bowls

While poke bowls have ancient Polynesian origins dating back hundreds of years, the food trend has since become a beloved dish that countless foodies have been trying to emulate in recent years. With poke bowls' massive growth in popularity across North America beginning less than 15 years ago in 2012, new fans of the genre of dishes are unlikely to know all the dos and don'ts when making poke at home. Among the biggest mistakes you can make, however, are not using fresh fish and cutting said fish improperly before using it. The importance of both these qualities is massive when you're new to making poke bowls, as failure in either category can not only throw off the dish but could also be potentially dangerous for whoever is eating it.

Similar to making good sushi at home as a beginner, ensuring that all your ingredients are as high-quality as possible is very important. Executive Chef Ritchard Cariaga emphasized that using fresh, high-end fish first is the most pivotal step towards making a good poke bowl because the entire dish is centered around the protein. "It's all about the fish — local first and fresh is always best," Cariaga explained in an interview with Tasting Table, "Ask your [fishmonger] for sushi or sashimi-grade."

Now, while the importance of using the best fresh fish for poke bowls might seem a bit obvious, the vitality of cutting that fish in a particular way may come as a surprise if you're a poke bowl novice. It is crucial to cut whatever type of fish you're using into ½-inch pieces — ideally cubes — in order to warrant the best results possible. The reason for this particular sizing requirement is multi-faceted, with the most notable reason being that it's quite literally in the name; poke literally means "to cut" in Hawaiian, and is a reference to poke bowls being intended to feature small, diced-up pieces of fish.

However, even if you, for whatever reason, would want to go against the grain and use larger pieces of fish, you wouldn't be met with any better results. While some prefer their poke fish to be cut into 1-inch pieces rather than ½-inch pieces, anything bigger than that would throw off the balance of your bowl, making the fish itself too dominant alongside the other flavors at play.

The Daily Meal & Tasting Table are both owned by Static Media.