SF Chef Ravi Kapur's Tuna Poke Crackers

"When do I first remember eating poke? From the time I remember food, really. I’d go with my mom or dad to Tamashiro Market in Honolulu—it’s still there. It had tanks full of live fish, and the sellers would break them down for you right there. You’d see about half a dozen types of poke cut up and laid out in trays. It was always the best fish, and it went quick, because everyone bought it. Even at a young age, I started judging it, seeing which ones were already starting to cure. That shaped how I cook.

Poke is celebratory, but also for every day. If you go to somebody’s house, you don’t ask, Can I bring something? You just bring something. And that is usually poke. You get to the house and it’s part of the pupus, the appetizers—things to share and snack on while you’re hanging out and talking story. It’s what I grew up with, and it has nostalgia and meaning for me. When I make it at Liholiho, I think, How do I remember it tasting? It’s like looking into a crystal ball of the past."

Ravi Kapur, chef at Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco as told to Margo True for Sunset, 2016; Photo of his Tuna Poke Crackers by Jennifer Davick

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