Sesame Prawn Toasts

Ingredients:

Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!

Prawns – you want to use raw, deveined king prawns for the best flavour and texture. You can use fresh or defrosted frozen prawns.

Cornflour – a little cornflour helps the sesame prawn toast filling bind together.

White bread – you want medium-sliced white bread (about 1 cm thick). It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, a plain white loaf is ideal.

Sesame seeds – You can use white or black – I like to use a mixture.

Vegetable oil – any flavourless oil with a high smoke point works well. Rapeseed (canola) or sunflower oil are good alternatives.

Substitutions and Variations:

Chicken: you don’t actually have to make sesame prawn toast. Chicken mince or blended chicken breasts/thighs works really well too. Use the same weight and follow the recipe as above. That’s a tip I learnt from one of Nadiya Hussain’s books (listen to her Desert Island Dishes episode and Dream Dinner Party episode if you like!) 

Herbs: you can add extra flavour to your sesame prawn toast filling by adding roughly chopped herbs. Coriander and parsley work well. Sometimes I add finely sliced spring onions too. These all also work well as a garnish.

Spices: give your sesame prawn toast a spicy kick by adding a pinch of dried chilli flakes or a hint of ginger (either ginger paste or freshly grated). 

Bread: I like to use plain white bread for my sesame prawn toast, but you can use wholemeal brown bread if you prefer. Alternatively, you can use bao buns or even hot dog rolls! Get creative and have fun. 

Here’s how to make Sesame Prawn Toasts:

Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.

ONE:  Dab the prawns dry with kitchen paper. Finely chop or blitz the prawns until they become almost paste-like.

TWO: Scoop into a large mixing bowl and add the garlic, sugar, cornflour, sesame oil and egg white.

THREE: Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper pepper. Mix well to combine. 

FOUR: Slice the crusts off the bread. I find it quickest to stack them up and slice at once.

FIVE: Lay one piece of crustless white bread on a board. Spread with some (about ¼) of the prawn mix, then top with another piece of bread. Press down firmly to create a sandwich. Repeat with the other slices so you have 4 sandwiches.

SIX: One at a time, dunk each sandwich into the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides. Then place in the sesame seed mixture and repeat, making sure you get a good, even coating.

SEVEN: Pour in enough oil to come 2-3 cm up the sides of a large, deep frying pan. Place over a medium-high heat until shimmering hot, but not smoking. carefully add around two of the sandwiches. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Using a spatula, gently turn over, then cook for another 1 minute, or until golden brown and crispy on both sides and the prawn paste is cooked through.

EIGHT: Slice the sandwiches in half to create 8 triangles and place onto a plate (you can cut into 16 smaller ones, if you prefer). Drizzle with the green sauce and garnish with shallot rings and freshly chopped coriander, parsley or chives.

Cooking Tips:

Frozen prawns: if using frozen prawns, make sure you defrost them in the fridge overnight then pat dry with kitchen roll (otherwise the filling will be too wet). If you are in a hurry, place the prawns into a large bowl and fill with cold water. They defrost in the water and it should take about 10 minutes. Just change the water a few times as the frozen prawns make the water really cold and you need to bring the temperature back up a little with fresh water from the tap. Once they are soft, drain well and pat dry, as above.

Fry in batches: it might be tempting to add all the sandwiches to the oil at once or the temperature will drop and you will end up with greasy sesame prawn toast. Start frying 2 or 3 at a time depending on the size of your pan and depending on the size of your bread too. I used typical sandwich bread but if your slices are bigger or smaller, you can fit more or less in the pan.

Leftover sesame seeds: you will have some leftover sesame seeds after coating the sesame prawn toast. Don’t be tempted to keep these as they have come into contact with raw egg and need to be discarded.

Making Open Faced Prawn Toasts

If you want to make more traditional sesame prawn toast, you can skip the sandwiches and make them open faced. Just make as instructed but don’t put a piece of bread on top to close the sandwich.

In this case, you don’t need to dip in the beaten egg as the sesame seeds will stick to the prawn filling. With the prawn filling on the top of the bread, dunk it into a plate of sesame seeds and they will stick. Then fry as instructed, on both sides but for You can also cut into smaller triangles and serve as a canapé (scroll down to FAQs for instructions on how to make ahead).