I went behind-the-scenes at wagamama and I learned 3 things

The pan-Asian restaurant chain has more than 160 branches across the UK, after initially being set up in 1992, so you may well have gone to one already.

I only started going a few years ago, and had mainly stuck to my favourite dish, the teriyaki donburi, in that time.

However, when I got invited by wagamama to cook some of their food and see behind the scenes a little, I was curious to give it a go and expand my palate a little.

We got to try some cooking at this smaller kitchen space in wagamama (Image: Carlo Simone/Newsquest)

What's it like behind the scenes at wagamama?

I headed up to wagamama's Great Marlborough Street branch in London one afternoon along with a friend to test out my skills.

We were taken to an upstairs seating area, which had a small development kitchen area attached.

Along with two other people, we were going to cook two dishes in the Teppanyaki and the Firecracker Chicken.

Before we got cooking wagamama's Global Executive Chef and Brand Ambassador, Steve Mangleshot, gave us a brief and shared some stories of his time working in restaurants as well as at the chain.

What was interesting to learn was that the chain had branches across several countries and was quite popular in Italy, which is something I wouldn't have anticipated going in.

Before we started on the dishes, we had to look the part, as we were given some wagamama chef's whites and a hat.

The ingredients at wagamama are prepped as much as possible (Image: Carlo Simone/Newsquest)

After that, we stepped into the kitchen, which was split into two sections.

One section had a large wok, and the other had an induction hob.

My friend and I started on the induction hob side, where we were cooking the Teppanyaki.

All the ingredients were laid out for us, and after using a small amount of oil, I gently poured the noodles in.

Steve guiding us through the process (Image: John-Paul Kunrunmi/Newsquest)

After a minute or so of stirring, we poured in some egg and mixed it into the noodles, ensuring they were well covered.

This was then coated with soy seasoning before vegetables like peppers and bean sprouts, along with chicken and prawns, were added in.

The main element of this was to keep mixing, and soon enough it was ready to plate.

Steve was overseeing the process and guided us through plating the food centrally before we sprinkled on sesame seeds, pickled ginger and fried onions.

We were given guidance on how to plate the food correctly (Image: John-Paul Kunrunmi/Newsquest)

The cooking seemed to fly by at just five minutes or so, so I was shocked to learn from Steve that this would be done in about two minutes or less in the actual kitchen.

Obviously, the actual process is not too complicated, and all the elements are prepped as much as possible beforehand, but it was still interesting to learn.

Additionally, he shared that the aim was to have dishes out five minutes after they were ordered, which could be useful if someone was aiming to have a quick lunch before heading back to the office.

The Teppanyaki was delicious (Image: Carlo Simone/Newsquest)

When we had plated up, we got a chance to try our cooking, and it was very pleasant indeed.

The umami flavours really came through here to create a savoury delight that I had no issue tucking into despite my clumsiness with the chopsticks.

Next up was the Firecracker Chicken, which meant we switched over to the wok.

After Steve put some oil in (which sizzled explosively), we stir-fried peppers and onions until caramelised before adding in some chicken and then applying the firecracker sauce.

In the process of cooking the Firecracker Chicken (Image: John-Paul Kunrunmi/Newsquest)

This was a very steamy job but a simple one in mixing the ingredients for a couple of minutes.

It was then time to plate up, and despite getting a few splatters of sauce around the outside of the plate, it was easy to clean up.

We then created a well in the middle of the food where we could place a packed bowl of rice, before lifting up to have a delightful dome on top.

Proudly holding our completed Firecracker Chicken dish (Image: John-Paul Kunrunmi/Newsquest)

From there, it was just adding the garnishes like sesame seeds and a bit of lime on top to complete it.

Usually I'm not great with spicy food, but the firecracker sauce here doesn't overpower the other flavours present here and adds a unique profile to the food.

Overall, I had a great time learning how wagamama creates its dishes, and I might be a bit more experimental with what I pick out next time.

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What did I learn from my wagamama experience?

1. wagamama prioritises fresh ingredients to create well-rounded meals
2. The aim is to have dishes to customers five minutes after they order their food
3. Dishes are often cooked within one or two minutes, as time is saved in preparation

Have you been to wagamama before? Let us know in the comments.