Serves: 6
Total Calories: 68

1/2 pound shrimp
5 water chestnuts
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
4 slices white bread
oil for deep-frying

1. Shell and devein shrimp then mince with water chestnuts and ginger root. Beat egg lightly. Mix minced ingredients and egg with cornstarch, sherry, salt and pepper blend well.

2. Trim off bread crusts. Spread shrimp mixture evenly over bread, then cut each slice in 4 squares or triangles. (To prevent shrimp mixture from sticking to knife during spreading, dip blade first in cold water.)

3. Heat oil to smoking. Place bread, shrimp side down, on a slotted spoon then gently lower into oil. Reduce heat slightly and deep-fry a few pieces at a time, until bread is golden (about 1 1/2 minutes). Turn each piece over and deep-fry a few seconds more. Drain on paper toweling. Serve hot.

NOTE: This dish, served originally at Chinese banquets, is excellent as an hors d'oeuvre or cocktail-party snack. (For best results, use bread that's at least 2 days old: it will absorb less oil.) Shrimp toast may be prepared in advance and kept warm by being placed, uncovered, on a cookie sheet in a slow (275-degree) oven. It may also be frozen, then reheated without thawing in a moderate (350-degree) oven. Leftover shrimp toast may be frozen and reheated in the same manner.

VARIATIONS:
* For the shrimp, substitute minced crab or lobster.
* For the water chestnuts, substitute 1/4 cup celery, minced.
* In step 1, mince the shrimp with 1 slice ginger root and half an onion. Omit water chestnuts. Season as above, but omit cornstarch. Then fold into mixture 2 egg whites, beaten until fluffy but not stiff.
* In step 1, add to shrimp mixture 1 bacon strip, minced or 1/2 scallion stalk, minced.
* In step 2, cut bread in 1- by 4-inch strips (these are called Shrimp Straws).
* After step 2, glaze the shrimp mixture by brushing it with more beaten egg.
* After step 2, press into shrimp mixture a bit of minced ham or parsley.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 6
Total Calories: 68
Calories from Fat: 7

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Appetizers and Cold Dishes
Asparagus Salad
Basic Cold Bean Curd
Bean Sprout Salad
Braised Bamboo Shoots
Braised Mushrooms
Celery And Carrot Salad
Chinese Pickles
Chinese Sausages
Cold Chicken And Cucumber
Cold Chicken Sesame
Cold Sherry Chicken
Cold Shrimp And Cauliflower
Crabmeat And Cucumbers
Dried Jellyfish And Turnips
Eggplant Salad
Marinated Abalone
Marinated Mushrooms I
Marinated Mushrooms II
Oyster Sauce Mushrooms
Pickled Cabbage
Pickled Celery
Pickled Chinese Cabbage
Pickled Chinese Lettuce
Pickled Mustard Cabbage
Pickled Turnips
Preserved Eggs
Preserved Eggs with Ham and Vegetables
Pseudo Smoked Fish
Red-Simmered Chicken Wings
Sesame Ham Sticks
Shredded Cucumbers
Shrimp Toast
Slivered Bean Curd And Shrimp
Smashed Cucumbers
Smashed Radishes
Smoked Fish
Spinach Salad With Shrimp
Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables
Stuffed Mushrooms -Braised
Stuffed Mushrooms -Simmered
Stuffed Mushrooms -Steamed
Stuffed Mushrooms -Steamed and Poached
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Chicken and Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Fish
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Ham
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork and Crabmeat
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork and Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Water Chestnuts
Sweet-and-Pungent Lettuce Rolls
Sweet-and-Pungent Lotus Root
White-Cut Chicken