Is it just us or is Shrimp Toast highly underrated? Seriously. Why isn’t everyone screaming about the deliciousness of Chinese Shrimp Toast?? It’s probably one of our favorite appetizers and snacks. We know we say that a lot, but you guys, these little bites are truly IT!
A delicious shrimp paste is smeared over some soft bread and pan-fried to perfection! Pair the little triangles with a sweet-chile sauce and you have yourself a flavor party in your mouth! Our easy shrimp toast recipe highlights the delicious sweet flavor of shrimp and is very addicting!!
Where Does Shrimp Toast Come From?
The exact origins of shrimp toast (also called prawn toast) is a little up for debate. Some say it comes from the city of Guangzhou while others say Hong Kong. Throughout the years it has become a staple in Hong Kong as well as western Chinese cuisine, most notably the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
How to Make Our Recipe for Shrimp Toast
Process
SWEET-CHILI SAUCE
- Combine 6 tablespoons water, rice vinegar and sugar into a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
- Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and sambal and stir together. Simmer.
- In a small bowl, combine remaining water and cornstarch.
- Whisk together.
- Pour slurry into simmering vinegar mixture and stir together. Simmer for 1 minute, until sauce thickens and resembles a thin glaze. Remove from heat and cool.
SHRIMP TOAST
- Add shrimp paste ingredients into the well of a food processor.
- Pulse 6 to 8 times. Scrape down sides of the bowl and blend for about 30 seconds. Until a coarse paste has formed.
- Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture onto each triangle of bread and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Repeat until all bread squares have been smeared with shrimp paste.
- Pour oil into a large pan and place over medium heat. Carefully place half of the triangles of bread, shrimp-side down, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Flip toasts over and fry for an additional 2 minutes.
- Drain on cooling rack or paper towels, before transferring to a platter and serving with sweet-chili sauce.
Watch how easy it is to make our Shrimp Toast Recipe!
Tools You Will Need
- cutting board
- knife
- measuring spoons
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cups
- food processor
- small spoon
- large sauté pan
- tongs
Best Texture for the Shrimp Paste
The topping is called shrimp paste for a reason, as it should really be a paste. This will help the paste spread and adhere onto the bread nicely.
Our version uses a shrimp paste, but with a bit of texture. I like biting into the little triangles and feeling some of the shrimp texture. This is also why I like adding water chestnuts to the paste mixture. I really like the tiny bits of texture you get from the water chestnuts as well as the bits of shrimp.
If you’re more of a purest you can definitely blitz the shrimp mixture in the food processor until it is indeed a smooth paste!
Should the Crust be On or Off?
Many recipes call for the crust to be removed from the bread before adding the paste, including ours! I really like the evenness of the bread with the crusts removed when toasted and often find leaving the crust on, makes the dish slightly more about the bread than the shrimp, which I don’t like.
This mostly comes down to personal preference though, so you can either remove the crust or leave them on. It doesn’t make much of a difference, but we all have our preferences. Some people leave it on because it’s a waste of bread to cut it off, but I always turn the crust scraps into homemade breadcrumbs for a lager use – so problem solved there!
Common Cooking Methods
Shrimp Toast is usually deep fried or baked. I don’t love either options and think pan-frying (almost shallow frying) is the way to go. You still get the cooking evenness from pan-frying that you would with deep frying, but with less oil!
You can also definitely use the air fryer for these with delicious, crispy results! Just set your air fryer to 350˚F, generously spray the bottom of the fryer basket with cooking spray, as well as the top and bottom of each piece of shrimp toast, and air-fry for 4 to 5 minutes or until bread has toasted and shrimp mixture has just cooked through. **If your bread is very soft, leave slices out to air dry for 1 to 3 hours before spreading with shrimp mixture.**
Should You Use Shrimp or Prawns?
As I mentioned above shrimp toast is also called prawn toast and was originally made with prawns. They are totally interchangeable in this recipe, so use whichever is more ready available at your local market.
Also, if you’re curious about the differences between shrimp and prawns I found this great article that breaks down the differences.
Best Dipping Sauce
I love our shrimp toast recipe with sweet-chili sauce. I think the sauce perfectly compliments the sweetness of the shrimp, while providing a slight bit of heat that balances all the flavors out. You can easily also serve the shrimp toast with a ponzu sauce or even just some soy sauce on the side. You can also enjoy the shrimp toast with no sauce and it’s still very good.
More Delicious Shrimp Recipes You Will Love
Shrimp Toast
INGREDIENTS
sweet-chile sauce
- 1/2 cup water, divided
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons sambal oelek
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
shrimp tost
- 2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
- 1/3 cup diced water chestnuts
- 1 egg white
- 1 thinly sliced green onion
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 10 slices milk bread (or white bread) crusts removed and each piece cut into 2 triangles
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
INSTRUCTIONS
sweet chile sauce
- Place 6 tablespoons water, rice vinegar and sugar into a small pot and bring to a boil, over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and sambal and stir together.
- In a small bowl combine cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons water. Whisk together.
- Pour cornstarch slurry into pot and stir together. Simmer for 1 minute, until sauce thickens and resembles a thin glaze(sauce will thicken further as it cools). Remove from heat and set aside.
shrimp toast
- Add shrimp paste ingredients into the well of a food processor.Pulse 6 to 8 times. Scrape down sides of the bowl and blend for about 30 seconds. Until a coarse paste has formed.
- Pulse 6 to 8 times. Scrape down sides of the bowl and blend for about 30 seconds. Until a coarse paste has formed.
- Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture onto each triangle of bread and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Repeat until all bread squares have been smeared with shrimp paste.
- Pour oil into a large pan and place over medium heat. Carefully place half of the triangles of bread, shrimp-side down, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes.Flip toasts over and fry for an additional 2 minutes.
- Flip toasts over and fry for an additional 2 minutes.
- Drain on cooling rack or paper towels, before transferring to a platter and serving with sweet-chili sauce.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Hello, Love to try this recipe, but I’m not a fan of cilantro. Could I substitute fresh parsley? Is the salt is table salt? Also, could these be made ahead and frozen? If so, should they be heated from the frozen state on a tray in a toaster oven at 350 degrees F or should they be defrosted first? Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hello! Yes, you can sub in parsley for the cilantro. The salt we generally use in our recipe (unless specified otherwise) is kosher salt. If you freeze them, we recommend baking them from a frozen state.
The shrimp toast look marvelous and I can’t wait to make them! Please tell me what is Sambal Oelek and where I might find it? Thank you!
Hi! It’s an Indonesian chili paste. It can be found at most Asian grocery stores as well as most standard grocery stores (in the Asian food section). If you can’t find it, harissa or Chinese chili sauce are good substitutes!
Could you use cooked shrimp?
No, I don’t recommend it, as the texture will be tough and rubbery
ok I made these last night and we gobbled them all up so fast. I served with a wonderful mango chilli sause, wow, I need to make this again today!
I doubled the freshly chopped green onion/scallions and added them to the mix after being pulsed. I left out the cilantro since I didnt have any. Also used white bread which was lightly toasted before going in the oil so that it does not soak up so much oil.
I assume you can make this with just about any ground meat and a mix of spices as long as the ingrediens are fresh, it will be awesome. Fresh ginger and garlic make a huge difference!
I saw another recipe where a toast is also put on the top of the shrimp paste so you end up with a pocket of good stuff which is nice too, but does not present as well.
Thank you!
Thank you!! I’m SO excited!! Can you tell? :) Ever since I tasted that Son of a Gun deliciousness, I’ve been wanting more. And now I can make it at home. You rock. Seriously.
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I have been wanting to try shrimp toast for so long and it looks so good!
Oh! And also, have you tried the Shrimp Pimp Truck?
Yes!!! I really like their shrimp ceviche lettuce wraps!
I LOVE Son of a Gun!! Had the best meal there on Christmas Eve, I can’t wait to try these for myself. Any ideas on how to make the Alligator Schnitzel…? ;)
Goodness gracious, I need this ASAP!
I have never even heard of shrimp toast but these look so tasty! I like all of the ingredients, so why not give it a try?! Thanks for sharing :)
These look really good. I have to give them a try for an upcoming dinner party.
Oh my does that look good! What beautiful photography and such delicious recipes. My new go-to blog. Thank you!
I have always loved shrimp toast. I am going to have to make these because I am sure they are much better than in a restaurant.
Soooo cute – def trying it as an appetizer for my next party. But what are water chestnuts, and where can i find them?
You can find water chestnuts in the Asian aisle at most local grocery stores in a small can!
Sitting around on a Saturday night watching Willy Wonka with the kids and my 7–yr-old son saw the picture of the shrimp toasts and yelled, “I WANT THOSE! WILL YOU MAKE THEM?” Guess I have to now. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love these! I’m Vietnamese, and my mother used to occasionally make them. She used to make them for parties at work or with the neighbors, and they would be gone in a minute. I like the idea of adding sesame seeds. Now, I’m craving for some…
These look similar to some dim sum we used to always order when I was kid. Yum.
I was vegetarian for nearly 10 years and the thing that swayed me back was shrimp toast! I never knew it was so easy to make yourself…this looks absolutely delicious :-)
These look amazing. Much better than I remember traditional Chinese restaurant Shrimp Toasts.
Shrimp Toast Nuggets! YUM! These sound absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to make these for a dinner party.
totally weird, and yet totally awesome
These remind me of something I used to eat at a local Chinese restaurant as a kid…oh the memories. They look delish!
i LOVE the shrimp toast at son of a gun! have you had the chicken sandwich and the lobster rolls there? so delicious.
im intimidated by frying anything, but these look so good i might need to make them for a dinner shindig!
Yes and yes! Both the chicken sandwich and lobster roll are SO good!
Even if you’re intimidated by frying you should totally make these…super easy! :)
sounds too good !!!