Watermelon sashimi
This watermelon 'sashimi' tastes incredible. Cooking the melon makes a lot of the water evaporate and completely changes the texture. The end result is so similar to the texture of sashimi, and the Asian marinade gives it a savoury hit of flavour. Serve as a starter, on its own with wedges of lime, sprinkled sea salt and coriander. Or, try cooking in cubes instead, and pairing with an Asian slaw, noodles or sushi.
Ingredients
- 1 mini watermelon, or ½ a regular watermelon
- 200ml soy sauce, or tamari
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 limes
- 2 tsp tomato purée
- sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove
- coriander
- toasted sesame seeds
- sea salt
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas mark 5. Peel the mini watermelon with a knife, then place it in a roasting tray and cook in the oven for 2 hours, turning every half hour. We used a mini watermelon, for a regular sized watermelon, cut it half, or roast for longer. Note, the seeds will be bigger and there will be more of them.
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Step 2
Make a marinade by blitzing the soy sauce, tahini, 2 tbsp of lime juice, tomato purée, a glug of sesame oil, and the garlic clove.
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Step 3
Remove the melon from the oven, cover in the marinade and let it sit for 1 hour.
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Step 4
Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas mark 5. Return the melon to the oven for 5 mins or so, until the marinade has caramelized.
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Step 5
Thinly slice the melon and brush a little more marinade on. Season and sprinkle with coriander, toasted sesame seeds and sea salt, and serve with a wedge of lime.