What wine (and other drinks) to pair with poke (updated)

If you haven’t heard of poke - the Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish usually with rice and/or vegetables - you soon will. It’s everywhere (and pronounced, by the way, pokay not poke).

It’s not generally spicy so you don’t have to contend with that but usually has a dressing based on soy sauce which gives it an umami (savoury) character. 

It’s the sort of light dish you might have at lunchtime so alcohol might not even be appropriate though there are definitely wines - more often that not white or rosé - that will work well with it. 

There are also many alcohol-free options that go well, particularly citrussy ones, given that it more often than not features seafood.

Here are eight suggestions

Riesling
A crisp fresh young riesling - from the Okanagan Valley or Washington State, for example - would be delicious

Sauvignon Blanc
Generally good where seafood is involved and poke is no exception. I’d choose a citrussy style from Chile for example rather than the more powerful, punchy sauvignons from New Zealand

Grüner Veltliner
If in doubt turn to Austria’s Asian food-friendly Grüner Veltliner. Especially with Asian flavours

A fruity rosé
I tried a low alcohol (10%) off-dry English rosé based on pinot noir and meunier called A Little Bit from Westwell in Kent with a salmon poke and it was spot on.

Sake
Poke is actually not that different in flavour from sushi and although the Japanese wouldn’t traditionally drink a rice-based drink with rice there’s no reason why you shouldn’t.

A good crisp pils
C’mon! You can do better than a Bud! Buy a proper German pils or a crisp craft lager. They’ll both pair well with poke.

Pina colada
Bring back those retro cocktails! We should stop being sniffy about pina colada and drink it with the kind of food for which it was intended.

And thinking pineapple and coconut, pineapple juice would also be a good (and appropriately Hawaiian) pairing as would ultra-fashionable sweet, creamy coconut water. 

If you want to know more about poke read this excellent introduction from Bon Appetit.

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