Chinese Shrimp Toasts Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 oz (175 g) raw large shrimp, shelled, deveined, and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• ½ tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 large egg white
• 4 large slices of day-old white bread, crusts removed
• sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 oz (30 g) white sesame seeds

1. Put the shrimp, cornstarch, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and egg white into a food processor, and process to a fairly smooth paste.
2. Cut each piece of bread into quarters and spread with a little of the shrimp paste, being sure to go right up to the edges and mounding it up slightly so that all the paste is used up.
3. Heat a 2 in (5 cm) depth of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan or deep fryer. It is ready when a crust of spare bread, dropped in, sizzles and starts to turn golden brown. Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Press each piece of bread, shrimp-side down, into the sesame seeds, so each is topped with a thin layer.
4. Fry the shrimp toasts in small batches, sesame seed side down, for 1-2 minutes, until becoming golden brown, then carefully turn them over and fry for another minute. Drain the cooked toasts on a plate lined with paper towels while you fry the remaining pieces. Serve hot.