LUNAR NEW YEAR - BAKED WATERCRESS SHRIMP TOAST

By Christopher Fujimoto

Our baked watercress shrimp toast is a simple street food inspired snack that is easy to make for any party, picnic, or for an at home snack.  This recipe is inspired by the environment of the farm, where crayfish and watercress are plentiful, but in this recipe we utilized shrimp with our Sumida Farm watercress to make a toast as an "ode" to our farm ecosystem.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, no tail
• 2C chopped Sumida Farm watercress
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 egg whites
• 1T tsuyu or shoyu
• 1T fresh ginger, minced
• 2t cornstarch
• 2t sesame oil
• 1/2t kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 8 slices white bread (or preferred bread of choice, but needs to be flat slices)
• Soft butter, as needed, to spread on bread slices before baking
• Optional - sweet chili sauce and/or Kewpie mayo

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Prepare all your ingredients.  In a blender or food processor, add all ingredients and pulse on high until everything is combined (about 30-45 seconds).
• Split the mix evenly into 4 portions and spread the mix evenly on four slices of bread.  Make sure the spread is level before the top slice of bread is added on top.
• If desired, spread soft butter over the top and bottom slices of bread as it will give the toast a nice golden color once baked.  Place the 4 sandwiches on a sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes.
• Check sandwiches at 10 minutes to see if the bread is starting to turn golden brown.  If the sandwiches are not golden, continue baking for 5 more minutes.
• Once the sandwiches are golden brown, remove from the oven and let them cool for a couple minutes.  For presentation purposes, you can cut the crusts off the bread and then cut each sandwich in half before serving.
• Enjoy them warm with sweet chili sauce or kewpie mayo!