Baked Shrimp Toasts

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 lb medium shrimp, in shell peeled, deveined, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (31 to 35 per lb)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 loaf pullman bread, unsliced (9- by 4-inch)

Recipe

• 1 cook garlic and ginger in oil in an 8- to 9-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute.
• 2 add mirin, soy sauce, and salt (omit salt if making ahead; see note, below) and simmer, stirring, 15 seconds.
• 3 transfer marinade to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
• 4 add shrimp and cilantro, tossing to coat, and marinate, covered and chilled, 1 hour.
• 5 put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 350°f.
• 6 turn bread loaf on its side and evenly cut crust from bottom of loaf using a long serrated knife, discarding crust, then cut a 3/8-inch-thick slice from bottom and trim crust from sides of slice.
• 7 put slice on a baking sheet (reserve rest of loaf for another use) and bake, turning over once, until dry but not colored, 8 minutes total.
• 8 remove bread from oven but leave on baking sheet.
• 9 immediately increase oven temperature to 475°f.
• 10 spread top of hot toast with all of shrimp mixture, packing it down into a thick even layer and covering surface entirely.
• 11 make sure oven temperature has reached 475°f, then bake shrimp toast until topping is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
• 12 transfer with a large flat spatula to a rack to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board.
• 13 halve shrimp toast crosswise with a very sharp knife, then cut each half lengthwise into fourths, making 8 strips total.
• 14 cut each strip into 4 pieces.
• 15 serve toasts warm or at room temperature.
• 16 note: shrimp can be marinated (without salt in marinade) up to 4 hours.
• 17 stir in salt before proceeding.