duck duck goose's 'Prawn Toast Revisited'. | Photo: Matt Hickman
“I’ve shamelessly stolen this dish from Ho Lee Fook in Hong Kong; they’ve done it so well, although I’ve adapted it slightly. I’m not the biggest fan of ‘Dirty Food’ and have never understood people’s obsession with piling food up as high as possible, particularly burgers. But this prawn toast is my exception to the rule. A piece of white bread sandwiches a thick and well-seasoned prawn mousse; deep fried and dressed with tonkatsu sauce, kewpie mayonnaise and pickled kohlrabi; it’s finished with a healthy mound of curly endive and bonito flakes. I don’t know whether the piling up seems acceptable in this instance because it consists of dainty salad and delicate dried fish flakes, or if I’m just really fickle. I’m sure of one thing though, it’s big and it’s delicious. Eat with beer.”
Preparation Time: 30 minutes + pickling time of 2+ hours
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves Two
Kohlrabi, 1
Rice wine vinegar, 200ml
Water, 100ml
Sugar, 100g
Salt, 20g
Star anise, 1
Defrosted prawns, 300g (TIP: it’ll make your life a lot easier using frozen prawns that have already been deveined and shelled, but of course the fresher the better)
Egg white, ½
Ginger, 5g, finely chopped
Garlic, 10g, finely grated
Coriander, 1 sprig
Fish sauce, 10ml
Soy sauce, 5ml
Salt, a pinch, to taste
Thick white bread, 2 slices (TIP: something like Kingsmill is perfect)
Mousse, 300g
Sesame seeds, 100g
Sunflower or vegetable oil
Bonito flakes, ½ a handful
Curly endive salad leaf, ½ a handful
Kewpie mayonnaise
Tonkatsu sauce
Place the vinegar, sugar, star anise and salt in a pan and bring to the boil then leave to cool.
Thinly slice the kohlrabi using a mandolin or knife, into slices of about half the thickness of a pound coin.
Drop the sliced kohlrabi in the pickle liquor and leave for a couple of hours.
Place these prawns in a bowl along with the soy and fish sauce, coriander, salt, finely grated garlic, and ginger. Give it all a mix then set aside for 10 minutes.
Blitz the mix in a blender until smooth, starts to thicken and becomes a translucent white colour.
Spread 150g of mousse on each piece of bread forming a mound, making it the thickest in the middle.
Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top so they stick to the mousse and form a solid layer.
Give the toast a shake to remove any excess.
Heat a frying pan of sunflower oil or vegetable oil (if the latter make sure the pan is deep and don’t fill up to the top). Once the oil is hot, around 180-190c drop your toast in the oil and fry until golden brown.
Remove any excess oil with kitchen paper.
Slice the toasts into triangles and place back together to form the original shape.
Drizzle with kewpie mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce in equal amounts to form a crossed hatch pattern.
Place half a round of pickled kohlrabi on top.
Place your curly endive on top with a little sesame oil and pickle liquor.
Finish with a small handful of Bonito flakes.
Serve and eat with cold beer.
Further information on duck duck goose can be found at duckduckgooselondon.com.
