Off the Pacific coast of Panama, covered in salt and with our bare feet gripping the bottom of the boat, we wrestled a couple of yellowfin tuna into our panga. The stoke was high, and the celebratory cocktails went down too easily.
As we surfed the boat back through the breakers, the crew started talking about how we would feast on our catch.
By the time we got back to the boat launch, we had landed on a rough idea. It’s definitely not traditional—nor thought through very hard. We just knew we wanted to eat it raw, tossed together with whatever ingredients from the market looked great. Limes, avocados, chilies—it didn't matter. You could call it poke, but it leans more on instinct and availability than tradition.
CONNNOR’S YELLOWFIN POKE
Covering my ass here: handle any raw fish properly—freeze it to -5°F for 7 days, then thaw it overnight in the fridge. The freezing takes care of any parasites, and the overnight thaw helps preserve the texture.
If you don’t have all these ingredients, don’t sweat it. This dish is all about the fish—you just need citrus, salt, and a bit of spice. For freshness and color, you can use cilantro or cucumber; we went with avocados. Here’s my recipe for yellowfin tuna poke.
PREPARATION
1. Dice the yellowfin tuna into roughly 3/8" pieces. Arrange it in a single layer on a plate and keep it refrigerated until ready to serve.
2. Remove the skin from the orange with a knife and segment the orange.
3. Squeeze all the juice from leftover core of the orange and reserve. You should get roughly 1½ oz of juice. If not, juice the second orange.
4. Combine the orange juice, lime juice, red onion, ginger and soy sauce together.
5. Remove the tuna from the fridge and pour the citrus soy mixture over top.
6. Scatter the diced avocado, sliced jalapeño and orange segments around the dish.
7. Serve with great tortilla chips and even better, cocktails or cervezas.
Who’s Connor Gabbott?
Longtime TJB Ambassador Connor Gabbott is a professionally trained chef, avid outdoorsman, photographer, and videographer with a passion for chasing remote locations and crafting simple, fresh meals from the day’s catch. After a 20-year career in professional kitchens, Connor turned to hunting and angling as a way to harvest his own food—eventually picking up a camera to document and share those experiences with others. These days, if he's not scouring remote stretches of the South Pacific or on a backcountry hunt in Montana, you can find him in Vancouver, B.C., plotting his next adventure.
