Shrimp Toast

Hey it's me again.. So a few years ago my husband and I wanted to order some chinese food from one of our favorite chinese places called "See Thru Kitchen", and he wanted a side of shrimp toast. I had no idea what shrimp toast was, never seen it or tried it. So once we got the order I asked to try one of these shrimp toast thingies and I fell in love!! As I stated in my previous blog I found a few different recipes on pinterest for Asian foods that I have been loving and wanting to try at home rather than order out. One of the first things I searched for was shrimp toast. I made this as a side with my Kung Pao Chicken and I have to admit, the recipe for this Shrimp Toast tasted exactly like the ones we usually order. I love the fact that now I could make these at home now, and make triple the amount you would get from takeout at half the price. Try it, you will like them too ;-) 

This recipe is from a blog by the name of No Recipes, which coincidentally has all sorts of recipes from American, Mediterranean, Chinese, Indian... etc. 

Shrimp Toast

makes 48 toasts

12 thin slices sandwich bread
14 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup potato starch (halve if using cornstarch)
1/4 cup tablespoons minced green onions
1 egg
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon salt
white pepper to taste
parsley for garnish
oil for deep frying

Put the shrimp, cornstarch, green onions, egg, ginger, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it’s almost smooth. You may need to scrape the bowl down a few times with a spatula. It should resemble a chunky paste, however there shouldn’t be any large pieces of shrimp left. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mince the shrimp with a knife and mix everything else together in a bowl by hand.

Cut the crusts off the bread (the crust will burn if you leave it on), then cut the bread into four triangles, squares or sticks. Spread about a teaspoon of the shrimp mixture on each piece of bread. Make sure to get the shrimp all the way to the edges or the bread will curl while frying. Press a small piece of parsley into each toast for color.

Add about 2 inches of oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat to 350 degrees F. The oil needs to be very hot, or the bread will soak up excess oil, and the shrimp will get overcooked.

Add the toasts, shrimp side down. When the edges of the bread start to brown, flip the toasts over and fry the bread side until it is golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined rack with the bread side facing the paper towel to drain as much oil as possible.

Kung Pao Chicken Lunguini

Hey dolls! I have really been slacking on this blog, I have so many recipe that I have tried recently but have not had a chance to post them so I will try to get at least one posted today starting with this Kung Pao Chicken that I actually made over a week ago. I don't know about you but I love Chinese food, everytime I have ever tried looking for a recipe I would get intimidated and never cook them so I would just do the next best thing and order. I am sure I am not the only one, but then came along pinterest where the possibilities are just endless. I found a few Chinese recipes on there and they seemed easy enough to try so I just had to give them a shot. One of my favorite dishes is Kung Pao, I love spicy food and this one just fits the bill. This recipe is fairly easy, doesn't require anything unusual and it was very good, even the next day! 


I found this recipe from a blog called Blog Chef.Net, check them out, I bookmarked a few more of their recipes to try later ;-) 


Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for deep frying)
1lb uncooked linguini noodles
Sauce-
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup garlic (minced)
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup green onions (sliced)

Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add linguini and cook according to package directions. When linguini has finished cooking drain and set aside.
Step 2: While noodles are cooking, toss cut up chicken pieces with ½ cup of cornstarch until evenly coated.  Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Deep fry chicken bits in batches until golden brown and fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees). Drain on paper towels.
Step 3: In a bowl whisk together chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, soy sauce, dry sherry, red chili paste with garlic, sugar, red wine vinegar, and sesame oil.
Step 4: Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or fry pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir fry for 15 seconds. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan. Stir in peanuts. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened and bubbly.
Step 5: In a serving bowl add cooked linguini and chicken bits. Add the kung pao sauce mixture.  Add green onions and toss everything together.
(Makes 4 Servings)