The Poké bowl (pronounced poh-KAY) originated in Hawaii with its roots in Polynesian culture. In Hawaiian, poké means to cut or slice and, judging by the multi-coloured offerings strewn across Instagram, it is one of those freestyle dishes where you can cut and slice pretty much whatever you want, however you want.

Preceding social media by some way, the Japanese certainly played their part in the evolution of this dish, introducing the flavours of soy, sesame and vinegar from the late 19th century. The modern poké is the ultimate in health-conscious, eye-pleasing comfort food—a vibrant, colourful bowl that hits every nutritional note. While most Poke relies on a quick splash of soy sauce, we take things a step further by marinating the salmon in shoyu-koji.

As well as the shoyu-koji, the addition of garlic and ginger really gives this dish a kick and adds to the overall moreishness.

This isn’t just about flavour; it’s about transformation. If you have the patience to marinate the salmon overnight, the koji enzymes work their magic, turning the fish buttery and incredibly silky (what we call nettori in Japan). Feel free to pile on the colours and textures to sing alongside that beautiful salmon.