Makes about 1 ½ cups – a snack for 4

Poké, a Hawaiian snack, is essentially a jazzed up fish tartar. Chopped seafood is traditionally mixed with salt and/or soy sauce, onions, and often seaweed and chopped kukui (candlenuts – which are local to Hawaii). A lively play of tastes and textures is the goal. Poké allows plenty of room for variation. We began with lobster – almost but not quite raw. We blanched ours to make it easier to get it out of the shell.

• 1 1-pound live lobster
• Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon pickled onions, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon pickling liquid
• About 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Tabasco (or other hot sauce or minced hot chili to taste)
• ¼ cup seeded cucumber, diced and peeled
• 1 tablespoon chives, minced
• About 3 tablespoons soft herbs (we like cilantro, shiso, mint, basil, and dill), minced
• 2 tablespoons lightly salted roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
• About 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
• Lettuce leaves for serving

1. Cook the lobster in boiling salted water for 1 minute, then drain it and refresh in cold water. Remove the lobster from the shell and dice the meat.

2. Dice the pickled onions and combine with the pickling liquid, lemon juice,
and about 4 splashes of Tabasco (to start). Add the cucumber, the chives, and the diced lobster. Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

3. Mix in the remaining herbs and peanuts if using. Add the oil, then taste and adjust the seasoning with Tabasco, lemon juice, and salt as needed. Serve on lettuce leaves or crackers.

This recipe was originally published with the article, Some Like it Raw.