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Beautiful, seared, marinated tuna steak with stir fried quinoa and vegetables, and a classic sweet, sour, salty and spicy Vietnamese Nuoc Cham dressing! I've recreated this light and healthy, yet satisfying, flavour-packed Asian dish to help you nurture your Wagamama cravings this summer!
This is one of my favourite Wagamama dishes on their menu - I order it nearly every time I visit! So I was so excited when I finally hit the nail on the head with this recipe, to be able to enjoy at home whenever I have the craving! Now, I know you're probably thinking "but haven't Wagamamas already published a recipe book for all of their dishes?", well, yes they have. However I am slightly begrudged to spend £25 on a book where, as a pescatarian, I can only enjoy a small portion of the recipes. Plus, who doesn't like a challenge?!
This recipe is super easy and takes hardly anytime at all. The tuna is marinated for 20-30 minutes and pan fried in just 4 minutes to achieve a lovely pink tender centre, although you can cook longer if you prefer well sone tuna steak. The vegetable-quinoa stir-fry takes another 4-5 minutes. I even buy pre-cooked quinoa to make things as easy as possible. So all in all, a very quick and easy, yet absolutely delicious meal!
Wagamamas use sweet potato, kale, red onion, tender stem broccoli, red pepper and edamame beans in their dish, however sometimes I just like to use whatever I have available - carrot ribbons, spinach, yellow pepper, peas, bean sprouts, pak choi, red cabbage, nero cavolo... whatever you fancy! For a great looking dish, try to use chunky cut vegetables which vary in colour!
Wagamama Copy-Cat Nuoc Cham Tuna
Prep time: 5 minutes
Marinating: 20-30 mins
Cooking: 10 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients List
2 Tuna steaks
Marinade:
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Malt vinegar
1/2 Tsp sugar
1/2 Tsp garlic paste (or finely chopped garlic)
1/2 Tsp chilli paste (or finely chopped chilli)
1/4 Tsp sesame oil
Nuoc Cham Dressing:
3 Tbsp warm water
1Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp Thai or Vietnamese Fish Sauce
1 Tsp chile paste (or finely chopped chilli)
1/2 Tsp garlic paste (or finely chopped garlic)
Stir Fry:
250g cooked quinoa
350g Your choice of colourful vegetables
(E.g. Sweet potato, bell pepper, tenderstem broccoli, kale, cabbage, carrot ribbons, edamame, peas, red onion, pak choi, butternut squash, bean sprouts etc.)
Coriander for garnish
Method
Make the Tuna Marinade: In a microwavable bowl or in a small pan on the stove, heat soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in microwave for 20 seconds until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in chilli and garlic paste and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cool, pour marinade over the tuna steaks, cover and chill in the fridge for between 20- 30 minutes.
Make the Nuoc Cham Dressing: Meanwhile mix warm water with sugar until fully dissolved. Mix in lime juice and fish sauce, followed by garlic paste and chilli.
Cook the Tuna: Heat a small amount of olive or vegetable oil in a pan over a medium high heat. Place tuna steaks in pan and, dependent on the thickness of the steaks, cook for 1-2 minutes per side for a nice pink centre. Remove from the pan, wrap in foil and leave to rest whilst you cook the vegetables - in the colder months, I keep the tuna in foil in the oven at 100C to keep warm.
Make the stir fry: To the same pan, add a tbsp of oil. Add thicker vegetables that take longer to cook to the pan first (onion, butternut, peppers, broccoli, sweet potato etc.) and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Add remaining vegetables (carrot ribbons, kale, spinach, bean sprouts etc.) and cook for a further minute before adding the cooked quinoa to the pan. Stir in 2/3 of the Nuoc Cham dressing and cook for a further minute or 2 to allow the liquid to reduce and soak into the quinoa.
Serve: Plate stir fry and place tuna steak on top before drizzling some of remaining dressing over the steaks. Garnish with coriander.