BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Poke Express is a food stand that you can find all around town. Owner Emma Valdivia combined her Asian heritage with classic Hawaiian dishes to make a poke and Korean BBQ experience in Bakersfield.
Some of the most popular dishes are the classic poke bowl. It starts with rice, you choose between tune, salmon, or both and then it gets topped with fresh fruit and veggies to make a colorful and fresh dish. Other ways Emma is thinking outside of the box, she is making poke nachos. These are the same as the poke bowl, expect instead of rice, they use fried wonton chips for a light way to indulge in your favorite dish. You can also get the bowl wrapped in a burrito, making a pokerito.
On the Korean BBQ side, The Poke Express is making bulgogi fries. This is Emma’s take on the Mexican classic aside fries. She cooks and marinates her meat in a homemade bulgogi sauce. It is then topped with kimchi, veggies, spicy mayo and a fried egg. A new menu item are the bulgogi tacos. They come on a flier tortilla topped with cabbage, bulgogi and a special sauce. These taco melt in your mouth and are bursting with flavor.
If you would like to try on of these dishes, you can find The Poke Express stand at Crusader Brewing on Thursday’s and at Great Change Brewing on Friday’s. The also are in Tehachapi for Quiz night at Local Craft Beer Wednesday evenings.
