Pacific Market Staple · Raw Fish Salad
Ika Mata
Photo: Arnaud 25 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
No stove touches the fish — the citric acid in fresh lime juice alone turns the raw flesh opaque, the same trick that 'cooks' ceviche and Hawaiian poke.
Ika mata is raw fish, usually tuna or trevally, diced and left to marinate in lime or lemon juice until it turns opaque, then folded through coconut cream with diced cucumber, tomato and onion. Cook Islands stallholders sell it by the container at Auckland's weekend Pacific markets, alongside taro and roast pork.
Why it's made this way: More Cook Islands Māori now live in Auckland than in the Cook Islands itself, and their market stalls have kept dishes like ika mata a regular part of the city's weekend food culture rather than a rare specialty.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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