Saturday, September 26, 2009

Shrimp Toast

The first time I tasted the Shrimp Toast was at a family Christmas party.   My mother likes to cook "foreign" dishes and test new recipes for fun.   I loved the crispy fried bread with shrimp on top of it.  The UMAMI of fresh shrimp is increased with touch of ginger to give a bit of heat,  That was some 35+ years ago.   I decided to revisit the recipe with my mother one afternoon.
We used Asian Milk Bread as a base.   Its thickness and crumb density is ideal for this frying.  I think the "Texas Toast" would be a good substitute.  And of course, bake your own bread and cut into the ideal thickness for this shrimp toast.  Each slice was cut into 1/4 and center is scooped out half way to make the "well" to hold shrimp and pork mixtures.   The sliced bread can be also cut into round shape, a perfect base to hold the curled shrimp.  ( Save the scraps to make PANKO breadcrumb for future use.)
We are quite happy with the result.   It is a great addition to serve as appetizer, TAPAS dish.   We had fun spending time together cooking.
Ingredients:
Ground Pork1/4 lb
Coarsely chopped shrimps 1 lb
(Optional) 24 shelled whole deveined shrimps without tail
salt 1 tsp  and pepper  1/8 tsp
Slurry - 1/8 C
Minced ginger - 1-1/2 TB
Some cilantro leaves
6 slices of Asian whole bread without crust cut into quarter or into round shapes, then center cutout, but not through the bottom
Enough vegetable or peanuts oil for deep frying - 2-1/2" to 3" deep

Cutout                                                       Minced ginger                                 Add Slurry
 
Fill the center with shrimp mixture, then smear the mixture over the surface.   Top it with whole shrimp, if you would like, then, place a single cilantro leaf.   

 
Place in preheated oil 350'F presentation side down.   Fry for 4 minutes (or until golden brown).   Tip:  As everyone's stove BTU maybe different, the cooking time may vary.  Take one out and see if the shrimp mixture is cooked all the way through.  Then fry the rest for the same period. 
Turn the shrimp toast over and take it out after a minute.

2 comments:

  1. Oh this looks tasty!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello, Wendy
    This is actually one of our family's party favorite when we lived in S. Viet-Nam (part of our lives). It was perfect as Hors D'oeuvres.
    Make it as small you as you can handle. A bite size is the best. Use firmest bread you can find the best - like the bread loaf you find at the Asian Market, so it won't soak up the oil as much.

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