Shrimp toast is the latest addition to our compendium of retro Chinese takeout recipes. A flavorful mixture of ground shrimp seasoned with scallions, cilantro, and ginger is spread onto slices of white sandwich bread, and then pan-fried.
I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more obvious fusion between Chinese and American influences than this crispy, tasty appetizer.
A Process of Discovery & Lessons from Grandpa
I’ll admit that before I began developing this recipe, I’d never actually ever tried shrimp toast (gasp!). It was a process of discovery for me, and my dad gave me a lot of guidance.
Apparently, when his father—my grandpa—used to run a Chinese takeout restaurant, his shrimp toast recipe was legendary.
The secret?
Pork fat. Of course.
My grandpa would add fatty pork to the shrimp mixture––a 70/30 fat to meat ratio. He would add just enough of it to flavor the shrimp toast, but not so much as to change the texture of the shrimp mixture.
For this recipe, I used about an ounce of pork fat. If you’d rather not use it, you can just leave it out––just go with your gut!
Why I Don’t Cut Off My Crusts
Another note––many cooks making shrimp toast choose to cut the crusts off the bread, but I am pretty against this. It’s a waste of bread! I also find that the crust provides a good edge to hold the filling onto the bread itself.
If you really want to cut the crusts off though, just do it before you spread on the shrimp mixture, and whizz them up in a food processor to make breadcrumbs. You can then store them in the freezer and pull them out anytime you need to make meatballs, meatloaf, or any other dish in need of some breadcrumb lovin’.
These shrimp toasts make for an excellent party appetizer with beer or cocktails. Definitely New Year’s Eve party appetizer material. This recipe makes 16 little triangle toasts, but you can double or triple the recipe for a larger party!
Shrimp Toast Recipe Instructions
If you’re going the traditional route and using pork fat, add the pork fat to a food processor and process until smooth.
Then add the shrimp, cilantro, scallions, ginger, toasted sesame oil, sugar, salt, cornstarch and egg white.
Process until smooth.
Divide the mixture among 4 slices of sandwich bread, spreading it evenly out to the ends.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, and lightly press the sesame seeds into the shrimp mixture.
Cut each slice into quarters on a diagonal to create little triangles.
In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat ⅛ inch of oil until shimmering. Fry the triangles in the skillet, shrimp-side down first, until golden––about 2-3 minutes.
Use a spatula to carefully turn them over, and fry the other side for about 1 minute.
Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately!
Shrimp Toast
Ingredients
- 1 ounce pork fat (30g, optional)
- ½ pound shrimp (225g, peeled and deveined)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 scallions (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 egg white
- 4 slices white sandwich bread
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- If you’re going the traditional route and using pork fat, add the pork fat to a food processor and process until smooth. Then add the shrimp, cilantro, scallions, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, salt, cornstarch and egg white. Process until smooth.
- Divide the mixture among 4 slices of sandwich bread, spreading it evenly out to the ends. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and lightly press the sesame seeds into the shrimp mixture. Cut each slice into quarters on a diagonal to create little triangles.
- In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat ⅛ inch of oil until shimmering. Fry the triangles in the skillet, shrimp-side down first, until golden––about 2-3 minutes.
- Use a spatula to carefully turn them over, and fry the other side for about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately!
nutrition facts
I followed traditional method and am completely in love with this recipe.
Thank you so much !!!
I learn something new every time I visit :)
You’re welcome, Sheryl! :)
A few queries: I don’t have a food processor so I hope a NutriBullet will work.
Could I use air fryer instead of deep frying? Or bake?
Possible to use duck fat instead of pork fat?
Thanks! Can’t wait to try🙂
Hi Maria, I haven’t tried a nutribullet before, but it might have difficulty with the paste-like texture of the filling. You could also hand-chop it the shrimp and then hand-mix the ingredients together, whipping it until you achieve the same paste-like consistency. I have also not tried air-frying these, but you could certainly pan-fry them with less oil. In this particular recipe, you may be able to substitute duck fat for pork fat, since it’s a relatively small amount. But duck fat behaves a bit differently than lard—it might render more quickly out of the filling or cause it to break apart a bit (it’s not as binding as lard). You could also simply omit the fat, as it’s an optional ingredient.
I use the pork fat and it’s still such a great dish from my early 20’s. Thanks for the memories.
Ok, I am wondering now. I remember shrimp toasts made at home decades ago. I prefer not to say how many decades! It was so very long ago that I may be remembering wrong, but I really thought that “shrimp paste” was used to make them.
Have you ever heard of a shrimp toast recipe that relies upon shrimp paste instead of food-processing raw shrimp? Maybe I should chalk this one up as failing memory?
Shrimp paste was made from scratch and sometimes manually chopped and whipped (no food processors back then). in the early days, the shrimp toast was dipped in a batter before deep-frying.
Awesome!
:)