Watermelon Poke (Vegan Tuna)

This Hawaiian tuna substitute is versitile, savory and satisfying. Use it on salads and in poke bowls or serve it on top of fried wonton wrappers for a gobble-worthy appetizer. sometimes I make little wonton tacos out of this dish and sometimes I dump a bunch of chips on a plate like nachos, family style.  Wonton wrappers are easy to cut into shapes and fry. Rice paper skins are more tricky. They curl up and need high heat but they are gluten-free and vegan.  This is the perfect party recipe since all the elements can be made ahead of time and tossed together at the last moment.  It can also be dressed up for a wedding or dressed down for a barbecue.

Watermelon Poke

  • Servings: 8-10
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Ingredients

For the poke:

  • 1 cup watermelon slices
  • 2 green onions
  • 1 tablespoon sliced ginger
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce 
  • juice of one lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil 
  • 1 small strip kombu
  • 1/2 red thai chili
  • 1/2 teaspoon black and white sesame seeds
  • 1 avocado

For the wasabi aioli:

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1/4 cup finely minced green onion
  • wasabi to taste

For the wonton chips:

  • 1 1/2 cups of peanut or other frying oil
  • about 10 wonton skins or rice paper cut to size

Directions

  1. Dry the watermelon on a clean towel and set it aside
  2. Thinly slice one green onion, the garllic clove and the ginger and place these in a freezer bag
  3. Add soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, lime, chile and kombu to the freezer bag along with the watermelon and refrigerate for about 2 days.
  4. Mix all the wasabi mayo ingredients and then add the mix to a small plastic bag. This may be done several days before.  
  5. For the poke, remove the watermelon from the marinade and reserve the marinade.  Dice the watermelon into 1/4 inch pieces.
  6. Strain out some of the green onion and chiles add them to the watermelon for color. After this you can discard the marinade.
  7. Dice the avocado and add it to the poke
  8. The poke part is ready to add to poke bowls or salads but if you want to serve this as an appetizer, heat up some oil in a frying pan to about 350 degrees or when a test chip fizzles in the hot oil. just before serving.
  9. When the oil is hot fry the chips a few at a time until they are floating and crispy. 
  10. Add about a 1/4 teaspoon of wasabi mayo to each chip.
  11. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of poke to each chip and garnish with sesame seeds

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