By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Oka must have
coconut milk

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Oka is a fish dish that approximates poke, or perhaps ceviche, but, in a way, neither.

It is a Samoan dish of raw fish and coconut milk. Michael D. Ching e-mailed in search of a recipe, "so that I can make it for my fiancee's family."

Oka is a dish subject to interpretation by family tradition, the individual cook's style and ingredients on hand. Kind of like poke. The only essential is the coconut milk. Even the fish is sometimes substituted with other seafood.

An Internet search for oka will yield dozens of hits, but they all seem to lead back to one recipe. A version of it follows. Chopped raw mussels are suggested as a substitute for the fish.

Back in 1999, Iva Kinimaka of Iva's Komplete Katering made his version of oka on the KHON-TV cooking show "Hawaii's Kitchen." He included chopped fresh tomatoes and lemon juice, which could easily be mixed into this recipe if you enjoy those flavors.

Oka, by the way, is also the name of a soft, creamy cheese made in Canada. But I would not suggest that as an addition to this dish.

Oka with Crabmeat

3 pounds fresh ahi or snapper, skin and bones removed, chopped
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup water
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup crabmeat
1 cup chopped cucumbers
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate 30 minutes to an hour before eating.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 200 calories, 11 g. total fat, 9 g. saturated fat, 50 mg. cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 3 g. carbohydrate, 22 g. protein

Can you help?

Terry Gruber is looking for a recipe for rainbow-colored popcorn, the slightly sweet type, usually colored red and green and sold as snack food. Both of us have been searching and have turned up nothing that works.

As always, if you can come up with a recipe that tests successfully, I'll send you a cookbook from the Star-Bulletin's collection. Get in touch by one of the means listed below.

See the Columnists section for some past articles.

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.