Kylie Kwong And Her Shrimp Toasts

As long-time Cookthink blog readers might remember, I’ve got a thing for Kylie Kwong. The other night, before a small dinner party that came together at the last minute, I grabbed Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking and came across her recipe for King Prawn Toasts — flavored and puréed shrimp slathered onto white bread and deep fried — and was instantly on board.

Here’s how I made them:

First I filled a large stainless steel wok less than halfway with canola oil and heated the oil to 375F.

I peeled and deveined a pound of shrimp, and coarsely chopped them.

I put the shrimp in a bowl and added a couple of teaspoons of dry sherry…

an egg…

a splash of soy sauce, a handful of chopped scallion and cilantro leaves, a tablespoon of minced ginger and a light sprinkling of salt.

I cut the crusts off a few slices of good white bread…

cut the slices in half, and topped each half with a spoonful of the shrimp mixture. I rolled each one in toasted sesame seeds…

I floated the toasts in the oil, just a few at a time so the oil wouldn’t cool down, and let them fry for a minute or so on the first side. (As Kwong says, it doesn’t seem like the shrimp should stay on the bread, but it does.) I flipped them over with a slotted spoon and let them fry upside down until they were golden brown, another minute.

I removed the toasts to a brown paper bag to cool.

Meanwhile I made the sauce. Kwong called for a thick, reduced sweet and sour sauce, but I decided to keep it simpler and lighter given the richness of the toasts. I whisked together a teaspoon each of honey and soy sauce, then stirred in the juice from two limes, along with a diced Thai chile and a few thinly sliced green onions.