Tuna and Peach Poke

BY BILL ST. JOHN
Simplify pairing wine with food by attending less to the texture, flavor or weight of each and more to elements such as salt, sweet, acid, and fat. For instance, foods with salt (as the tamari soy sauce here) really appreciate wine that is high in acidity. Acidity enlivens, cleanses and balances. Poke is pronounced “poh-kay,” rhymes with “okay,” and means “chunk” in Hawaiian. Its recipe always carries salt and always benefits from wines high in acidity.

You’ll need:

• 3/4 pound #1 tuna, sliced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 Ela Family Farm peaches, skinned, pitted, and diced
• 1/2 cup cucumber, peeled to taste, and diced
• 1/4 cup scallions, mostly white portion, sliced

For the sauce:
• 1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, unflavored
• 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seed oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Here’s what you do:

Makes 2-3 servings
Make the sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Add the tuna, peaches, cucumber, and scallion, and lightly toss to cover with the sauce. Set aside for at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend, in the refrigerator if you wish the poke to be cool, or covered and at room temperature if not. Serve atop cooked, room-temperature white or brown rice and lettuce leaves. (You may garnish poke with any number of other chunked foods such as avocado, edamame beans, sprouts, zucchini, crunchy fried onions, or scallions, and flavorings such as “everything” bagel topping.)

And the wines:

Galerna Verdejo
A deliciously fresh wine with notes of melon, lime, white peach, citrus zest, green apple skin, and grass. 
Ch. Laroche Jaubert Blanc
A delightful blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Crisp acidity with fresh minerality.
Satellite Sauvignon Blanc
Zesty, lively and full of citrus. Hints of pineapple, guava and passionfruit.

All available at Marczyk Fine Wines and Fairfax Wine & Spirits.