Niki Nakayama’s Tuna Poké

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Niki Nakayama headshot
Chef Niki Nakayama brings California kaiseki to n/naka. (Photo by Zen Sekizawa) (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

Chef Niki Nakayama and her sous chef Carole Iida are not bound by tradition. They’re married. And at their restaurant n/naka, they might be the only women in the world doing kaiseki. The formal 13-course Japanese meal is meticulously prepared with careful attention to ingredients and technique. n/naka even has its own vegetable and herb garden. Now Niki and Carole have big plans to push the envelope even further, through constructing a kaiseki meal with all California ingredients, many of them wild, foraged. Between now and when they unveil their locally-sourced kaiseki menu in August, I’ll content myself with Niki’s tuna poké recipe. Perfect for a Los Angeles summer.

Niki Nakayama’s Tuna Poké

Yield: Serves 2

Tuna Poké Ingredients
8 oz sashimi grade tuna, diced into cubes
¼ onion, thinly sliced
½ avocado, diced
1 tsp fresh ginger juice
Wakame seaweed—rehydrated and cut, as needed (optional)

Soy Sauce Dressing Ingredients
½ tbsps sesame oil
1 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tbsps freshly squeezed lime juice

Instructions

For the wakame: Rehydrate the wakame in a bowl of cold water. Keep in mind that the seaweed will expand. Cut into bite-sized pieces no larger than tuna cubes.


For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, soy sauce, lemon and lime juices. Taste and adjust according to your preference.

For the poké: In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the tuna, onions, avocado and wakame. Pour the soy sauce dressing and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins.

Top: Chef Niki Nakayama hands forager Pascal Baudar a flower. (Photo by Abbie Fentress Swanson/KCRW)