I like poke as much as anyone who lives here. I do not like pretending a sweet, sticky bowl with a scoop of rice is “keto because ahi.” This is spicy ahi the way I actually eat it at home: sushi-grade fish, a sauce I mix myself, and a bed of won bok instead of rice. Won bok is napa cabbage. It is cheap, it is at Foodland and Times every week, and it gives you something to push the ahi around with.
Yield: 4 servings | Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 5 minutes (won bok only) | Total: about 25 minutes
Hawaii Grocery Notes
- Foodland / Times: poke-grade or sashimi-grade ahi. Buy plain cubes or a steak you cube at home. Walk past the pre-mixed spicy poke if the label lists sugar, mirin, or “poke sauce.”
- Costco: frozen ahi steaks when the fresh case is expensive. Thaw in the fridge. Won bok / napa is often in the produce bins too.
- Don Quijote: Kewpie mayo, toasted sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds, chili garlic sauce, nori komi (check sugar), green onion, shoyu.
- Won bok is the pale, crinkly napa cabbage, not round green cabbage. Either works. Won bok is softer and more “bowl-like.”
Ingredients
Ahi
- 1 lb sushi-grade ahi, cut into ½-inch cubes, very cold
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 sheet nori, torn or snipped into thin strips (optional)
Homemade spicy sauce (mix in a bowl; do not buy bottled poke sauce)
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise (Best Foods Real for 0 g sugar per tbsp; Kewpie if you like it and will count ~1 g per tbsp)
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce or sriracha (read the label; many brands add sugar)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon shoyu or tamari
- ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or lemon juice
- Pinch of kosher salt
Won bok bed
- 1 medium won bok (napa cabbage), about 1½ lb, sliced into wide ribbons
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or sesame oil
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Keep the ahi in the fridge until the sauce and cabbage are ready. Cold fish cubes better and tastes cleaner.
- Stir the sauce until it is smooth. Taste it. You want spicy, salty, and a little tang. If it tastes sweet, your chili sauce has sugar — switch brands or cut it with more mayo and vinegar.
- Heat a wide pan over medium-high. Add oil, then the won bok and a pinch of salt. Toss 2–4 minutes until the ribs are just tender and the leaves are wilted but not soggy. You can also keep it raw and sliced thin, like a slaw. I usually wilt it so it eats like a warm bowl.
- Divide the won bok into four bowls. Let it sit one minute so it is not piping hot under raw fish.
- Toss the cold ahi with the sauce, most of the green onion, and sesame seeds. Do not let it sit in sauce for an hour; 2–5 minutes is plenty.
- Spoon the ahi over the won bok. Finish with nori strips and the rest of the green onion. Serve immediately.
Kitchen-Estimate Macros (per serving)
Kitchen estimates only, not lab-tested. Calculated for 1 of 4 servings using Best Foods Real mayo and a chili garlic sauce with little or no added sugar. Kewpie and a sugary sriracha will nudge net carbs up by 1–2 g.
| Calories | Fat | Protein | Net carbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~320 | ~18 g | ~29 g | ~4 g |
Notes
- Hidden sugar: bottled poke sauce, store spicy ahi, and several chili sauces are the trap. Mix the sauce at home. Skip teriyaki, unagi sauce, and anything labeled “Hawaiian” that lists pineapple or brown sugar.
- If you do not eat raw fish, sear the cubes 20–30 seconds in a hot pan and toss with sauce off heat. It is a different dish. Still good. Still not a rice bowl.
- Leftover sauced ahi is not a meal-prep hero. Mix what you will eat. Extra plain cubes keep a day, well chilled.
- A drizzle of homemade chili pepper water on the won bok is very Hawaii and usually just chili, vinegar, garlic, and salt — check that nobody added sugar to the bottle.