Shrimp toast is a flavorful appetizer combining influences from both Chinese and American cuisines. A Chinese dim sum classic, seasoned shrimp is spread onto slices of white bread, which is then fried until perfectly golden and crispy.
What is Shrimp Toast?
Shrimp toast, aka. prawn toast, is a popular staple in many Chinese takeouts and dim sum restaurants. They’re made up of seasoned shrimp paste that’s spread over slices of white bread, and then deep fried until golden brown and crispy. Absolute yum.
You might see different variations of this dish depending on the location you visit. The one dim sum restaurant my friends and I always visited had the shrimp spread over on one side and packed with a hefty amount of toasted sesame seeds on top. The sesame seeds lended a nice toastiness and crunch that was just incredibly satisfying to eat with each bite.
Ingredients for Shrimp Toast
- Raw shrimp: you can either use fresh or frozen (for conveniency!). Just be sure to clean and devein them prior to preparing your shrimp paste.
- Garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, scallions: these will be the primary aromatics and seasonings for our shrimp paste that will give it tons of flavor.
- Egg white, cornstarch: the egg whites and starch will act as a binder to make our shrimp paste light, crispy, and spreadable.
- Toasted sesame seeds: you can either use these sparingly and sprinkle them on top of the bread, or be a little more generous and pack them straight onto the shrimp paste. The seeds add that little extra crunch to the toast while giving it a slight nuttiness.
- Bread: just plain ol’ slices of white bread. Feel free to use whichever kind of bread you have lying around in your kitchen too.
Remove the crusts?
I personally never remove the crusts just because it adds extra steps and there’s a greater margin for wastage of bread!
I find that the crust helps to keep the bread firm and easier to work with. Keeping the crust on also increases the surface area of the bread, meaning we can spread on more of that delicious shrimp paste onto it!
Otherwise, it’s all up to personal preference. You can totally cut off the crusts if you choose to, and use the crusts to make bread pudding or even bread crumbs.
Instructions
In a food processor, combine together the raw shrimp, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and egg white. Process until smooth.
Scoop out the shrimp paste from the food processor. Combine the paste with the chopped green onions and mix until well combined.
Spread the shrimp paste onto slices of white bread. Pack the toast shrimp-side down onto sesame seeds to coat it completely.
Shallow fry the toasts shrimp-side down for 2-3 minutes until golden. Flip them over, then cook for an additional 1 minute until golden browned.
Drain on a wire rack and let cool slightly. Cut into triangles and optionally serve with sweet chili sauce as the dip. Enjoy!
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Shrimp Toast
Course: AppetizersCuisine: ChineseShrimp toast is a flavorful appetizer combining influences from both Chinese and American cuisines. A Chinese dim sum classic, seasoned shrimp is spread onto slices of white bread, which is then fried until perfectly golden and crispy.
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Ingredients
250 g raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch
1 egg white
2 tbsp scallions, chopped
7 -8 slices of white bread
Toasted sesame seeds
Directions
- In a food processor, combine together the raw shrimp, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and egg white. Process until smooth.
- Scoop out the shrimp paste from the food processor. Combine the paste with the chopped scallions and mix until well combined.
- Spread the shrimp paste onto slices of white bread. Pack the toast shrimp-side down onto sesame seeds to coat it completely.
- Shallow fry the toasts shrimp-side down for 2-3 minutes until golden. Flip them over, then cook for an additional 1 minute until golden browned.
- Drain on a wire rack and let cool slightly. Cut into triangles and optionally serve with sweet chili sauce as the dip. Enjoy!
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