Meet poke (pronounced poh-kay), a Hawaiian raw fish salad that marries fresh seafood (traditionally tuna or octopus) with flavorful add-ins like seaweed, sesame oil, green onions, and cucumber. It’s old news on the West Coast, but poke is newly en vogue in the East, thanks to a number of poke purveyors who’ve recently set up shop in NYC. Pokeworks—the newest NYC restaurant specializing in the dish—regularly attracts a huge lunchtime rush, with lines that stretch down the block. The menu offers poke bowls (fish on top of brown or white rice), poke salad (with chopped romaine lettuce), and the poke burrito (essentially a giant sushi roll wrapped in huge sheets of seaweed instead of a tortilla). But—as we’ve seen with lemon water and juice cleanses—food trends aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be. So we asked dietitian Sharon Palmer, RDN, author of The Plant-Powered Diet: Is poke a legitimately healthy choice? For the most part, she says, poke gets the OK. “Fish is a very healthy protein source—it’s lower in saturated fat and higher in healthy omega-3s than most meat,” Palmer says. Most Americans aren’t eating anywhere near enough omega-3s—and that’s a problem, as a growing body of research shows that these good-for-you fats are crucial for cardiovascular health. True, most fish contains some amount of mercury—but most experts say the benefits of upping your omega-3 intake far outweigh the risks of mercury contamination. Just try to stick to lower-mercury picks like salmon, and order higher-mercury tuna a bit less often. (Check out the Natural Resources Defense Council’s guide to mercury in seafood right here.) MORE: 6 Surprising Ways To Use Canned Salmon And don’t worry too much about the fish being raw. Palmer says that commercial freezing and thawing practices limit the risk of foodborne illnesses. Instead, focus less on the fish and more on the add-ins. Pick brown rice over white to get more fiber in your poke bowl, and load up with as many vegetables as you can for max nutrients and minimal calories. Go easy on the sauces, too: Many are high in both salt and fat, Palmer explains, and even if it’s the good kind of fat, it can still drive up the calorie count into Chipotle burrito territory. Bottom line: Poke can be a smart choice—and a really tasty way to up your omega-3 intake. If there’s no poke restaurant near you yet, take heart: All the signs (and crazy long lines) indicate that poke spots will be swimming into cities across the US very soon.
