This Vegan Sesame Tofu 'Prawn' Toast recipe is an update of a recipe I made waaaay back in September 2017! It's so utterly glorious, I thought it would be good to give it a bit of extra love and attention. I mean, who doesn't love little morsels of fried bread topped with savoury things!
There are very few non vegan foods I truly long for, and Prawn toast is one of those. The combination of the savoury squishy paste & cheap white bread which is covered in sesame seeds then fried. So so utterly delicious.
💡The Inspiration
Back in 2017, I was taken to a fab Vietnamese restaurant recently by my beloved I DROOLED when I saw another table ordering prawn toasts. Being a Vietnamese place they had used French Baguette in place of cheap white bread (Vietnamese food at times has a French influence due to being a former French colony) which I thought a genius touch, and which made me determined to be a better vegan, stop drooling & make a yummy vegan version of my old favourite, Sesame Prawn Toast.
🦐Vegan Prawn
To create the vegan 'prawn' topping, I infused tofu with Konbu stock granules.
Konbu (seaweed) stock granules are easy to buy (affiliate link) online or from a Japanese specialist shop. The konbu gives the tofu a sea scented flavour, then I added the classic flavours that are usual for making prawn toasts; ginger, soy sauce & sesame oil.
Then you need to whizz up the tofu mixture into a paste, before spreading it onto your toasts or baguettes before frying.
👩🍳Handy How To Instructions
Ingredients for the Prawn Toasts: Tofu, white bread, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce,konbu granules and sesame seeds. 1. Finely Mince the garlic and grate the ginger. 2. Add the tofu, konbu, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce to a food processor and whizz up until a smooth paste. 3. The mixture should be a lovely smooth paste. 4. Spread the vegan prawn tofu mixture onto precut triangles of white bread or slices of baguette. 5. Dip the tofu side of the bread into sesame seeds to cover. - Your toasts are ready to fry!
🍳How to Deep Fry
In a wok or large saucepan, heat nuetral oil (such as sunflower, rapeseed or ground nut oil).
You want at least 5cms of oil depth to make these. Once the oil is heated, drop in a little piece of bread. When it sizzles and turns brown the oil is hot enough. Don't be tempted to put a piece in before as it will go soggy and oil-logged. You want a crisp, quick fry!
Very gently drop in one or two pieces of the prawn toasts at a time, prawn side up slightly splashing hot oil over the top of the toast. Let fry for a minute or so until the bread starts to turn golden then remove with a slotted spoon or wire frying thingy and leave to drain on paper.
FAQ
I have not yet aquired an air fryer to try, but I imagine they would work very very well in an airfryer. (Will report back and amend once I get one)
Unfortunately I have had no luck pan frying these. They fall apart in the pan and the topping sticks when you flip them over.
You can oven bake these, but they don't taste quite so good. The whole point is the terrible but delicious deep fryed taste.
Once you have deep fryed the toasts, let them cool and then freeze them. You can then pop them in the oven to heat and crisp up. It's lovely to make a big batch so you can just have one or two as the urge strikes, rather than deep frying all the time! They last up to 3 months in the freezer.
In my original recipe I used baguette slices, but I also have used ordinary white bread slices in the remake. Both work equally well. Just don't use fancy wholesome bread, it isn't the same and it isn't the point of this decadant recipe!.
🥠The Dipping Sauce
I love to make two types of dipping sauce..
The first one, is simply some sweet chilli sauce spiked with a little white wine or cider vinegar.
The second is a combo of Crispy Chilli Oil (I love the Laoganma Brand - affiliate link), Chinese black vinegar and soy sauce.
Obviously, you do you- dip into your favourite!!
🍜Serving Ideas
Serve these yummy appetizers when you're having a 'fakeaway' evening! Gather your favourite takeaway recipes and cook up a feast;
Crispy Black Bean Tofu Noodle Bowl
Vietnamese Style Aubergine - Veganised!
We hope you love making and eating these yummy Vegan Tofu Sesame 'Prawn' Toasts as much we do! If you have, please leave a comment below & share everywhere! x
📖 Recipe
Vegan 'Prawn' (Shrimp) Sesame Tofu Toasts
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
Vegan 'Prawn' Filling
- 150 g Extra Firm Tofu (Make sure it's the EXTRA firm style, not squishy silken tofu.)
- 2 tsps konbu stock granules
- ½ teaspoon grated or finely chopped ginger
- 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
To Assemble the Toasts
- 8 slices French Baguette OR plain white bread.
- 3 Tbs Sesame Seeds ((you might need more...))
- 300 ml Nuetral Oil such as Sunflower (*for deep frying. You might need more.)
For the Dipping Sauce
- 3 Tbs Sweet Chilli Sauce
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients for the 'prawn' tofu filling in a food processor & whizz into a paste
- Squish the filling onto the slices of baguette. It's nice to make them a bit mounded in the middle so there is lots of lovely flavour.
- Roll and press the sesame seeds onto the filling side of the bread
- Heat a deep frying pan with the oil, making sure it is hot enough to toast a square of bread in a few seconds
- Put the toasts in one or two at a time. Prawn side up.
- Fry for a few minutes until the sesame seeds start to colour. You might need to sort of scoop a little of the oil over the top of the toasts to cook the top.
- Carefully remove from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper napkins.
- To serve, mix together the sauce & vinegar to make the dipping sauce and get your sharp elbows out to make sure you get the most slices!
Michelle says
This is such a great idea, will be making it soon!
louise says
Let me know when you do! 🙂
Vicky | The Flourishing Pantry says
I'm so excited to try these, they sound amazing! Sesame prawn toast is absolutely one of my favourites at the take-away too. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe x
louise says
Thank you! I can't wait to make them again too- hope you like them as much as I do!
Elliot says
These look awesome, hoping to try them soon!
One question - can you sub the Kombu with blended Nori sheets?
Thanks!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I think blended/crushed nori sheets would work really well as a substitute for the kombu. I've used it in my "Chickpea Tuna" and in "crab cakes" before so I think it would be a great idea.