MEDIA RELEASE

Calling all poke lovers to the second annual Sam Choy’s Keauhou Poke Contest 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, March 17 at the Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay.

There will be poke galore with eating and fun for every one: a competition in six categories for both pros and amateurs, a zany celebrity cookoff, yummy poke contest tasting and a poke-making demonstration by Sam Choy with more tasting. Radio and TV personality Kimo Kahoano of Honolulu and KAPA Radio’s Keea Alapai will emcee the day’s activities that also include a Hawaii Island Marketplace and Hawaiian cultural demonstrations.

Poke contest competition this year expands to six categories, adding non-seafood and sushi style pokes to existing categories for traditional, spicy, cooked and poke with soy sauce.

Most of the event will be outside on the Bay View Lawn with the poke contest judging, awards and tasting inside the Ainakai restaurant that overlooks the lawn. The $5 admission for attendees provides entry to both locations and benefits the $1 million Equip the Kitchens Campaign for the future Hawai‘i Community College-Palamanui.

Poke contest judging begins 10 a.m., with public contest awards and tasting at 12:30 p.m. in Ainakai.

The rest of the event will be staged on the Bay View Lawn, don’t miss the Celebrity Cookoff at 11:30 a.m. when OC 16’s Tony Silva of Da Braddahs, Kumu Keala Ching, Brickwood Galuteria, Marlene Sai and Chris Kam vie for bragging rights.

Oahu’s Kapala will liven the crowd with their unique style of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music.

Enjoy Hawaiian cultural demonstrations of poi pounding and net making. The all-day Island Marketplace, which will offer produce and value-added products by local food purveyors and farmers, includes Love Family Farm, Kona Hawk Farms, Joe’s Nuts, D. Medicine Woman, Earth Matters and The Captain’s.

Don’t miss when celebrity chef Sam Choy shows “how it’s done” during the 1:30 p.m. demonstration, “How to Make Poke by Sam Choy.”

A TV host, cookbook author and founder of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, Choy put poke on the culinary map with his delicious recipes using cubed fish.

Pronounced poh-KAY, poke is typically raw or cooked fish seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt, spices and sesame oil, and then accented with seaweed, nuts and other ingredients.

A free shuttle will operate from Keauhou Shopping Center (pickup near Longs Drugs) to the contest from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Sam Choy’s Keauhou Poke Contest is part of Keauhou Resort’s annual Kamehameha III celebration March 15-17 that commemorates the Keauhou-born king, Lani Kauikeaouli.

The contest is sponsored by Kamehameha Investment Corporation, Kamehameha Schools Land Assets Division, the Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, Aloha Shoyu, Hawaiian Springs Water, Suisan Company, Ltd. and BMW of Hawaii.