Prawn Toast

on sourdough with chilli, lime and coriander

This dish is inspired by the traditional deep-fried prawn toast, but it differs from the original version as it shallow-fries the bread in a frying pan for a less oily texture. I add chilli, lime and coriander to freshen up the flavours and provide a welcome pop of citrus and spice. This works well as a rough and ready canapé if you have friends over for drinks, or makes an easy light lunch or late night snack.

Makes 6 pieces of prawn toast

Serves 3 as a light lunch, or 6-8 as nibbles

INGREDIENTS

  • FOR THE TOPPING
  • 180g raw prawns, peeled and with any stringy bits removed
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • half a thumb's length of fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • pinch of sea salt
  • pinch of sugar (optional)
  • 40g sesame seeds, to sprinkle
  • FOR THE TOAST
  • 6 slices of white sourdough
  • oil, suitable for frying
  • TO GARNISH
  • handful of fresh coriander, roughly torn
  • 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges

METHOD

Take all your ingredients for the topping apart from the sesame seeds, and blitz them into a paste in a food processor. For a more textured version or if you don’t have a food processor, you can just finely chop all the ingredients for the topping and then mix them together.

Spread the prawn topping onto each slice of bread, dividing it up evenly between them. Sprinkle the tops generously with sesame seeds.

Heat a glug of oil suitable for frying in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the toast in batches of 2-3 (depending on the size of your pan). Place the toast prawn-side down and fry for a couple of minutes, until the prawn paste is cooked through. Flip them over using a fish slice, and fry the underside until golden for a further couple of minutes. Drain them on kitchen towel.

Garnish them with fresh chilli and coriander and serve immediately, with wedges of fresh lime to squeeze over them. You may also want to serve with extra soy sauce for dipping.