Why This Recipe Works

Shrimp toast is a popular Cantonese-style finger food featuring bread slathered with a savory paste of ground shrimp, seasoned with cilantro and scallions, and fried until golden. Here we bring these craveable flavors to a bread salad substantial enough for dinner. To begin, we tear bread into craggy pieces and toast them with oil in a skillet, which crisps the edges and makes the exterior sturdy. We combine bread with shrimp sautéed in the same skillet, along with chunks of crunchy cucumber, grassy jalapeño, scallions, and lots of chopped cilantro. To dress the salad, we stir together soy sauce with rice vinegar and sweet chili sauce. For the final touches, we drizzle the salad with a sweet chili mayonnaise (a traditional dipping sauce for shrimp toast), and sprinkle it with toasted sesame seeds.

Before You Begin

If you prefer less spice, remove the seeds before slicing the jalapeños.

Instructions

Whisk 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce and 2 tablespoons mayonnaise together in bowl; set aside. Whisk 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and remaining 1 tablespoon chili sauce together in second bowl; set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add 6 cups baguette, torn into 1-inch pieces and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to crisp and dark, toasted spots appear, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and wipe out skillet.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed and 2 tablespoons vinegar mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is opaque and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to bowl with bread (leave any liquid in skillet).

Add 1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces; 1 jalapeño chile, halved lengthwise and sliced thin; 1½ cups coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and stems; 3 thinly sliced scallions, and remaining vinegar mixture to bowl with bread and shrimp and toss thoroughly to combine. Transfer to platter, drizzle with chili-mayonnaise, and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds. Serve.