The old Chinese fable goes that this dish was created by a Beijing chef whose specialty was mantou bread and a Guangzhou chef whose specialty was seafood. The Beijing chef travelled to Guangzhou to visit his friend and they put together the bread and seafood to create their version of the prawn toast. My cookery students have always wondered how prawn toast is made as it is one of their all time favourite dim sum. The key to the perfect prawn toast is to ensure the oil is hot enough to fry the prawn toast so that it stops it being greasy and absorbing the oil. Use raw sesame seeds for a golden prawn toast. Don’t use toasted sesame seeds as it will result in blackened sesame seeds once deep-fried.
Serves 2
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
150g raw king prawns, shells and heads removed and de-veined
1 teaspoon of salt
pinch of white pepper
1 drop of sesame oil
2 slices of thick white bread
50g non-toasted sesame seeds
vegetable oil, for deep frying
Blend the prawns in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper.
Spread the prawn mixture onto one side of the bread. Spread it evenly and most importantly ensure the corners of the bread are covered with the prawn mix.
Pour the sesame seeds onto a plate. Dunk the toast with the prawn paste into the sesame seeds and pat it down. Sprinkle the corners with the sesame seeds if they are not stuck on.
Fill a wok or large saucepan with vegetable oil and put on a high heat. To ensure the oil is hot enough, place a wooden spoon in the oil. If it forms bubbles around the wooden spoon, then the oil is hot enough to cook the prawn toast.Carefully place the prawn toast in the oil prawn-side down, hold the prawn toast down under the oil using a wooden spoon (as the prawn toast will float on the oil and therefore not cook the other side of the bread) and cook for 4–5 minutes or until the toast is golden brown and crisp on both sides and the prawn topping is completely cooked through – the prawn paste will be white and opaque and the sesame seeds will be golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
Cut the cooked prawn toasts into quarters and serve with Sweet Mandarin’s Sweet and Sour dipping sauce.
To book a table at Sweet Mandarin email sweetmandarintables@gmail.com . Our opening times are Tuesday – Sunday 5-10pm.
Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese Restaurant in Manchester which serves delicious Chinese cuisine and exotic cocktails. We make our own sweet chilli sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour sauce which you can buy from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado, Booths, Wing Yip and Chi Yip. Sweet Mandarin Chinese Restaurant and Cookery Schoolcan cater for the gluten free, dairy free diners. We are a short 15 minute walk from the Manchester Arena. We are not based in Chinatown, but based in the trendy Northern Quarter near the Arndale Centre, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and Primark. The nearest hotels to us are the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Apartments, Blue Rainbow Aparthotels, Light Hotel and Hatters Hostel.