This watermelon recipe may seem a bit ‘out there’, but trust me, it’s both easy and delicious! Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish eaten with a soy sauce dressing, this alternative, plant based version recreates the meaty texture of fish with baked and reduced watermelon. The flavour is an irresistible sweet and salty combination and we love this simple showstopper with rice, noodles or dumplings, steamed veg and a seaweed salad.
Our mini watermelons are best for this recipe, they are smaller and more intense in flavour, and have smaller pips than the big ones. Then all you need is a sachet of umami paste (or make your own marinade by mixing miso with soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli) and some toasted sesame seeds. Read on to see how easy this dish can be, and let us know in the comments if you give it a try.
Liz x
Ingredients
- 1 mini watermelon
- 1 sachet of umami paste
- toasted sesame seeds to serve
Method
- Preheat your oven to 190C and line a baking dish with baking parchment.
- Using a large, sharp knife, peel the watermelon. Cut both ends of first to create a flat, stable surface.
- Place the peeled watermelon in the baking dish and bake in the oven for at least 2 hours.
- Every half hour, take the watermelon out of the oven and turn it over so that it cooks evenly on all sides.
- Once the watermelon is reduced and blackened all over it is ready for its marinade.
- Liberally brush the umami paste all over the watermelon. Get as much of it on as you can. At least half of the sachet which is about 75g.
- Return the watermelon to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
- Then carefully move the hot watermelon to a board or plate to cool slightly before thinly slicing.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and eat hot or cold.
10. I served ours with a seaweed salad, pot sticker dumplings (which I will share in another blog post) and steamed aubergines with a simple dipping sauce of orange juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, grated garlic and ginger and extra toasted sesame seeds. It was delicious!
