One of my favorite restaurants is Local Tide, located in Fremont, Washington! They serve some of the very best and freshest local seafood dishes with a hint of Asian influences. My favorite dish there is the Shrimp Toast; it’s juicy, crunchy, and fried to golden perfection! My recipe is an homage to theirs and one of the best things I’ve made recently. This shrimp toast only requires a few ingredients, comes together quickly, and is the perfect appetizer if you’re hosting friends and family.
Did you say Pork Fat in my Shrimp Toast?
That’s right. The secret to the best shrimp toast is pork fat! This is an old-school Chinese technique, and the pork fat helps the shrimp maintain an incredibly juicy and bouncy texture.
I’ve tested making the shrimp toast without the pork fat, and you’re still able to achieve a pretty tasty shrimp toast, but it won’t have quite the same mouthfeel and unctuous flavor.

Crust Versus No Crust
After several R&D sessions, I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer my fried shrimp toast without the crust. I initially opted to keep the crust on to minimize food waste, but I found that during the frying process, the crust tended to burn too quickly before the rest of the shrimp toast was able to finish cooking. This led to a less aesthetic and appetizing final product, but the burnt crust also added a slight acridness to the dish.
Make them both ways and decide which one you like more!

Cooking Method:
Fryer: This is my preferred method, as this will make your shrimp toast crispier and moist! Heat your canola or vegetable oil to 325F. Fry the shrimp side down for 2 minutes, then flip and fry for another minute or until golden brown.

Air fryer: If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of deep frying or are looking to save on some calories, you can achieve similar results with an air fryer. Preheat your air fryer to 350F, and place shrimp toast, shrimp side up, and air-fry for 7-9 minutes, flipping halfway in between.
Oven: If you’re cooking a large batch, this last method could be the most convenient. Preheat the oven to 400F on convection mode, line the shrimp toast on a wire rack, and bake for 10 minutes, flipping halfway in between.
Note* Every air fryer and oven is a little bit different, so much sure you check when the shrimp toast becomes golden brown!

If you like this recipe, check out my Vietnamese Shrimp Toast!


The shrimp mixture is delicious! However, I struggled with the bread part. Maybe the slices were too thick, because they slid off the filling when I turned them. They also soaked up so much of the oil.
Hi Jacqueline! I’m not sure what could’ve caused the shrimp mixture to slide off the bread during frying; it might be due to the mixture being too loose or wet. If you try making this again, make sure to bring the oil up to temperature before frying to ensure that it’s frying for the appropriate amount of time, so that the bread doesn’t soak up as much oil. Otherwise, consider airfrying it! You’ll achieve similar results without the excess oil. Hope this helps, and excited for you to try some of my other recipes!
Quick, easy and fabulous! Perfect results and very good.😊 I used my gluten free bread due to severe sensitivity. But just the satisfying flavor I was looking for since I can’t really order out. Thank you..
I’m so glad it turned out well!