Wagamama launches pioneering vegan tuna made from watermelon

Wagamama today becomes the first major UK restaurant brand to launch the innovative vegan dish – watermelon tuna. The dish will be featured during Veganuary and showcases wagamama’s wide ranging, distinctive and flavoursome vegan menu. Last year pan asian restaurant wagamama launched the world’s first vegan egg to critical acclaim. This year they wanted to make sure they followed up this highly successful dish with another iconic vegan offering. Vegan tuna hasn’t been done by any other big restaurant brand and it’s the perfect example of our kaizen (Japanese for good change) philosophy. The bar was set high by the vegan egg but the wagamama team, led by executive chef Steve Mangleshot, are extremely excited and believe the watermelon tuna dish blows it out of the water. Suika means watermelon in japanese and the vegan ‘tuna’ is made with dehydrated watermelon which is then sliced, seared and served hot. The look and texture is incredibly similar to tuna sashimi, although the flavour remains reminiscent of watermelon. The ‘tuna’ is dressed with a miso sesame sauce and sits on a bed of white rice which is dressed with soy seasoning and accompanied with pickled radish, kale and tenderstem broccoli and an avocado, edamame and tofu guacamole. Steve Mangleshot said: “My team and I are always excited about creating new dishes, we love to innovate and make people think about the food they are eating. After the vegan egg we knew we had to step it up a notch to create a vegan dish that was fresh and full of flavour. “The watermelon tuna dish is all about innovation and and creating exceptional vegan food for our guests. The joy of being able to produce really cool food that is both vegan and tastes fantastic at the same time is what it’s all about. Putting this on the menu for veganuary gives us the opportunity to show off a great vegan dish alongside our ever-expanding vegan offerings. “To create the watermelon tuna first we slice it into steaks and brine it with salt to balance the sugars and to help with flavour, as well as to take out some of the water content. We then cook the steak sous vide style (low temperature for a long time) in a water bath in order to soften the watermelon and give it that tuna texture which is very important because the texture is the winner for the dish. “Once they are cooked the steaks are cooled to keep its tuna-like texture. They are then quickly seared on both sides to caramelise the steak, and then finished with a silky miso and sesame dressing which just elevates the flavours and whole experience. Stir-fried broccoli and kale are added to give the freshness and then that beautiful crunch of the pink radish. A bit of chilli for added kick and that is the fantastic-tasting vegan Suika tuna. Perfect!” Veganuary spokesperson Zoe West said: Veganuary is creating a new wave of consumers with strong ethics and a big appetite! This a real opportunity for businesses to improve and expand their vegan offerings for the growing climate-conscious audience. We’re delighted that Wagamama has risen to this challenge – helping people to live more lightly on the earth while still eating food they love – we can’t wait to try their new Suika Tuna dish!– Zoe West, Corporate Outreach Manager The Vegan Suika Tuna dish has been tested in secret by Wagamama chefs who have worked hard to get it right before the official nationwide launch in January. If it proves successful it will be added to the main menu.