Poke and the Plate Lunch

Poke began as fishermen's food, offcuts of the day's catch cut into cubes and dressed with sea salt, seaweed and roasted candlenut, and the version most locals eat is still bought by the pound from a counter at the back of a supermarket rather than from a restaurant. Ahi with shoyu and sweet onion is the standard, though the counters run to a dozen kinds. The plate lunch came from the plantation era, when workers from Japan, the Philippines, Portugal, China and Korea shared food in the fields: two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and a main of teriyaki, kalua pig or chicken katsu, served from a wagon. Shave ice, malasadas and Spam musubi round out the everyday list.

What you actually see

• Supermarket poke counters - where locals actually buy it, sold by the pound.
• The plate lunch - two scoops rice, mac salad and a grilled or fried main.
• Shave ice - fine-shaved ice with syrup, often over ice cream and azuki beans.
• Malasadas and Spam musubi - the Portuguese doughnut and the everyday snack.

When to go

Year-round. Poke counters are freshest in the morning and picked over by evening. Lunch wagons and plate lunch shops close early, often by mid-afternoon, so plan around lunchtime rather than dinner.

Honest expectations

Mainland poke bowls with mango and sriracha bear little relation to what is eaten here, and the tourist-facing poke bars in Waikiki charge several times supermarket prices for a worse product. Portions of plate lunch are enormous and unapologetically heavy. Fish supply varies, and the cheapest ahi at any counter is usually previously frozen.

Nearby

Honolulu has the widest choice; every island has its own counters and wagons.