Often compared to fish carpaccio, tartare or sashimi, poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish of raw fish marinated in a blend of soy sauce and sesame oil. Tuna is the most-popular base, but the dish can include a wide mix of seafood. In fact, the Hawaiian word poke translates as “to slice or chop.” The dish can be found pretty much everywhere on the islands, in variations like octopus poke with wasabi, salmon poke with roe and ahi shoyu poke. Now it can be found all throughout the United States, thanks to some enterprising Hawaiian chefs and mainlanders who’ve become smitten with the raw-fish salad. Here are a few islands-inspired places to get a taste.

Mainland Poke photo courtesy of Mary Costa