How To Make… ‘Prawn Toast Revisited’

Opened earlier this year at POP Brixton, duck duck goose is a Cantonese canteen inspired by chef and owner Oli Brown’s travels to Hong Kong. Having already become renowned for their ‘Prawn Toast Revisited’ – this week’s recipe will make it impossible to look at the classic appetiser in the same way, ever again.

“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

Ingredients

Serves Two

For the Pickled Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi, 1

Rice wine vinegar, 200ml

Water, 100ml

Sugar, 100g

Salt, 20g

Star anise, 1

For the Mousse

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

For the Toast

Thick white bread, 2 slices (TIP: something like Kingsmill is perfect)

Mousse, 300g

Sesame seeds, 100g

Other

Sunflower or vegetable oil

Bonito flakes, ½ a handful

Curly endive salad leaf, ½ a handful

Kewpie mayonnaise

Tonkatsu sauce

Method

For the Pickled Kohlrabi

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.

For the Mousse

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.

For the Toast

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.

To Finish

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.

Header Photo: Matt Hickman