🍤 CRISPY SESAME-PANKO SHRIMP TOAST
Some recipes are planned. Others happen because you have beautiful shrimp, a hot pan, and an idea that turns out far better than expected. 🍤✨
These Crispy Sesame-Panko Shrimp Toasts were one of those happy Nomad Kitchen accidents—tender shrimp with scallions, sesame, a little chili and lemon zest, spread over soft bread, coated in panko and sesame seeds, then fried until gloriously golden and crunchy. Elegant enough for Chinese New Year, easy enough for any gathering, and dangerously good straight from the pan. Make plenty. They disappear.
The Nomad Kitchen • Tré Taylor • tretaylor.com
Golden • Crunchy • Sesame-Crusted • Ridiculously Good
🧧
🥢 A LITTLE SHRIMP TOAST STORY🥢
Sometimes the best recipes aren't planned. They happen because you're standing in somebody else's kitchen, looking at what you've got, wondering:
What delicious thing can I make out of THIS?
That's how this Crispy Sesame-Panko Shrimp Toast came to life.
Fresh shrimp became a delicate paste with scallions, sesame oil, soy, chili and just enough lemon zest to wake everything up. It was spread over little pieces of soft white bread, pressed into a glorious mixture of panko and sesame seeds, and fried until golden and crisp.
And then came the taste test.
Oh. My. Shrimp.
These little things were outstanding.
Crunchy on the outside. Tender, juicy shrimp inside. Toasty sesame everywhere. A tiny touch of heat. And because they're small, they're just rich enough without becoming too much of a good thing.
This is special-occasion food that doesn't require special-occasion culinary skills.
🏮 WHY YOU'LL LOVE THEM
These little golden triangles work beautifully for Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year parties, cocktail parties, holiday gatherings, birthdays, dinner parties or anytime you've got beautiful shrimp and people who know what to do with an appetizer.
They're elegant.
They're easy.
They're wonderfully crunchy.
And if your guests love shrimp, you might want to make more than you think you need.
These disappear.
🍤 CRISPY SESAME-PANKO SHRIMP TOAST
Makes: Approximately 16 cocktail-size triangles
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10–12 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Danger Level: Someone will eat the last one and pretend they didn't.
🥢 FOR THE SHRIMP
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 scallions, finely sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
½ teaspoon chili oil, or to taste
Small pinch red pepper flakes, optional
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
🖤 THE IMPORTANT PART
Pat those shrimp DRY.
Really dry.
Shrimp naturally contains plenty of moisture, and once you start processing it, that moisture comes out. Too much additional liquid can soak into your bread before it ever reaches the pan.
That's why we're using lemon zest instead of lemon juice and keeping the soy sauce restrained.
The goal is a thick, sticky, spreadable shrimp paste—not shrimp soup.
🥠 FOR THE CRUNCHY COATING
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
½ cup sesame seeds
Mix them together in a shallow bowl.
That's it.
Sometimes two ingredients know exactly what they're doing.
🍞 FOR THE TOAST
4 slices soft white sandwich bread or brioche-style white bread
Crusts removed
Peanut oil for shallow frying
2 tablespoons butter per batch, as needed
