Recipes Appetizers Spicy Shrimp Toast Be the first to rate & review! Shrimp toast has become a staple in American Chinese restaurants, and is a fun snack to make at home. Here, 2011 F&W Best New Chef Stephanie Izard makes a shrimp mousse flavored with spicy sambal oelek; bright, tangy preserved lemon; and Shaoxing rice wine, and spreads it on white bread. When it fries, the mousse will puff and become a reddish-brown color. Izard keeps some of the shrimp in larger pieces to add textural interest to each bite; they also let you see when the shrimp toast is fully cooked (look for the pieces to be opaque). Both the shrimp mousse and the Aïoli served with the finished Shrimp Toasts can be made a few hours in advance and refrigerated until you are ready to fry. By Stephanie Izard Stephanie Izard Video Best New Chef Stephanie Izard. Video Stephanie Izard describes what it means to be named a Best New Chef. Born 1976; Evanston, IL ("I was born the day before Halloween, October 30. My mother calls me 'devil's child.'") Education Le Cordon Bleu; Scottsdale, AZ Experience Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley, AZ; Christopher's Fermier Brasserie, Phoenix; Vong, Spring, La Tache and Scylla, Chicago. How she opened Scylla when she was just 27 "I was cooking at La Tache, and one of the cooks said, 'You should open your own restaurant.' That was it. The next week I quit, got a giant loan, bought a building and opened Scylla. I think I was on a big adrenaline rush; I could not do that again by myself now." Childhood Experience "I always cooked with my mom; we'd shop together every Sunday and then cook together. She's a good cook, but now I notice that she uses things like jarred garlic; I throw her under the bus every time I do a demo." How she knew she wanted to be a cook "When I was growing up, I was always watching Martin Yan's Yan Can Cook and Julia Child while all my friends were watching Saved By the Bell." Memorable Cooking Experience "When I was eight, my family went to Epcot. We went to 'France' and had ham-filled crêpes with mushroom béchamel sauce. When we got home, I looked through cookbooks and recreated the dish pretty much exactly. My parents couldn't believe it." Kitchen Tool Vegetable peeler. "My sous chef just got me one from an Asian market. It's got a little green face with little googly eyes on it. It also has a wasabi shredder on the inside." Memorable Meal Tetsuya's in Sydney. "I was by myself. It's the only time I've done a big 10-course tasting by myself. I spent the whole time watching everyone else eat, watching their eyes light up. It was also the first time I'd gotten a chef's cookbook and then gotten to eat their food." Cheap Eat San Soo Gab San, a Korean restaurant in Chicago. "They're open late, and the chap chae [a cold noodle dish] is ridiculous. We get a table for 20, sit on the floor and cook all our own food—which, maybe, after a night of cooking, isn't the best part. But we have a little party there." Guilty Pleasure Tamari rice crackers with The Laughing Cow cheese. "It's my go-to snack in the kitchen. There are always tamari rice crackers sitting on my station; I dip them in whatever I'm making that day." Next Restaurant Little Goat. "It will be a diner, with a bar, opening in late fall. We're also going to make all kinds of breads there; we're going to blow up the bread program. So you'll be able to walk in at 7 a.m. and get bread right from the oven." Upcoming Cookbook Girl in the Kitchen (Fall 2011). Advantage to winning Top Chef season 4 "After oversleeping and missing my flight to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, I was 20th on the standby list for the next flight. Then a woman at the counter saw me and said 'That's my Top Chef!' She snapped her fingers and said, 'Get my Top Chef on the plane!'" Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on June 13, 2022 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall Active Time: 50 mins Total Time: 50 mins Servings: 6 Ingredients Shrimp Mousse 1 pound jumbo (21-25 count) raw peeled, deveined shrimp, divided 2 large egg whites 2 tablespoons sambal oelek 1 ½ tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry 1 ½ tablespoons tamari 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce 1 ½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon minced preserved lemon peel 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil ½ teaspoon granulated sugar ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste Neutral cooking oil (such as canola oil), for frying Aïoli 1 cup mayonnaise 1 ½ teaspoon fish sauce 1 teaspoon sambal oelek ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil Shrimp Toasts 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices good-quality white bread ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro 3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens (from 3 scallions) Directions Prepare the Shrimp Mousse: Cut one-third of the shrimp into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place in a small bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator. Place egg whites, sambal oelek, wine, tamari, fish sauce, cream, preserved lemon peel, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and remaining two-thirds shrimp in a food processor. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; fold in reserved sliced shrimp. Heat a bit of cooking oil in a small skillet over medium-high. Add about 2 teaspoons mousse mixture; cook until puffed and lightly browned, about 1 minute per side. Taste cooked mousse to check for seasoning level; season remaining uncooked mousse in bowl with additional salt to taste. Prepare the Aïoli: Whisk together mayonnaise, fish sauce, sambal oelek, and sesame oil in a small bowl until combined. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. Prepare the Shrimp Toasts: Spread Shrimp Mousse evenly into a 1/2-inch-thick layer on 1 side of each bread slice (about 1/4 cup per slice). Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large griddle or nonstick skillet over medium-high. Place 2 bread slices, mousse side down, in skillet. Cook, checking doneness by lifting with a spatula, until mousse puffs, is reddish-brown, and feels firm, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn toasts over, and cook until bread is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer cooked Shrimp Toasts to a plate. Repeat process 3 times with remaining butter and bread slices. Slice each Shrimp Toast evenly into 3 strips. Drizzle with Aïoli to taste, and sprinkle evenly with cilantro and scallions. Serve hot alongside remaining Aïoli. Rate it Print