These Vegan Sesame "Prawn" Toasts are made with tofu that has been flavoured to taste just like the prawn toasts found in your local Chinese takeaway. Get the recipe below.
Chinese takeaway dishes reinvented
Prawn toasts are a classic dish found on almost all Chinese takeaway menus across the UK. Special fried rice, BBQ ribs and crispy beef are just a few other dishes I miss from the takeaway which I'm trying to make vegan so I can enjoy them at home.
The seafood component on sesame prawn toasts means those following a plant based diet are seriously missing out. When I ate seafood, I loved prawn toasts. I think I've lived without them long enough.
The classic sesame prawn toast is perfectly crisp and slightly salty making them incredibly moreish, so are these vegan "prawn" toasts.
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How to make vegan "prawn" toasts
To make these vegan sesame "prawn toasts" take a slice of white bread (nothing fancy, your ordinary sandwich loaf is perfect for this) and top it with a paste made from extra firm tofu. This paste gets flavoured with nori to give it a fishy flavour along with other herbs and spices.
I pulse the tofu and flavourings in a food processor. You don't want it entirely smooth. A little bit of texture is a good thing. This is the pressed on top of the white bread.
Once you have pressed the paste onto the bread you need to cut into 4 triangles. Next, the paste side is pressed into sesame seeds. I use white sesame seeds but you could use black too, or even a mixture of white and black sesame seeds. Whichever type of sesame seed you use, you need to ensure they are fully covered so that they get a really crisp top when cooked.
Cooking the vegan "prawn" toasts involves shallow frying them on both sides. I use toasted sesame oil for extra flavour. They might not be the healthiest of dish but they are delicious!
Serve them hot out of the frying pan. But do give them a chance to cool down slightly before taking a bite!
Top tips for the perfect Vegan "Prawn" Toasts
- Texture is Key: Don’t over-blend the "prawn" mixture. Leave a bit of texture for a more authentic feel.
- Even Spread: Ensure the filling is spread evenly across the bread to avoid uneven cooking.
- Don't skimp on the sesame: For extra crunch, press the "prawn" coated side of the toast lightly into a plate of additional sesame seeds before cooking, then do it again!
The recipe
Vegan Sesame "Prawn" Toasts
Ingredients
- 150 g firm tofu
- 2 spring onions thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon root ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 sheet nori cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 6 slices white bread
- 50 g white sesame seeds
- 6 tablespoon vegetable oil for shallow frying
Instructions
- Add the tofu, spring onions, root ginger, garlic, soy sauce, nori and sesame oil into a food processor.
- Pulse until you have a thick paste.
- Take each piece of bread and top with the paste, spreading it into an even layer over the whole slice.
- Cut each slice into 4 triangles.
- Lay the sesame seeds onto a plate and one by one, press the paste side of each triangle into the sesame seeds. Press down firmly enough that the sesame seeds stick to all of the paste.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan.
- Carefully lay your first piece of sesame toast in the pan, sesame seed side down into the oil.
- Fry for a couple of minutes until crisp, then carefully flip the bread side for a further few minutes until crisp.
- Repeat until all of the pieces are cooked.
- Kitchen roll can be used to soak up any of the excess oil.
- Serve while hot.
Nutrition
More Chinese inspired recipes
If you like this recipe then you might like some of these other dishes. The full archive is linked to below. Many of these recipes were inspired by my trip to China but there are a number of "fakeaway" dishes too.
For more Chinese inspired recipes check out the Chinese recipe archives.
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