Baked Shrimp Toasts

Ingredients

• 4 inch bread white
• 3 tablespoons cilantro leaves fresh chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger fresh minced peeled
• 4 teaspoons garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon mirin 
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 0.8 pound shrimp deveined peeled cut into 1/2-inch pieces per pound), , , and
• 2 teaspoons soya sauce 
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• baking sheet
• oven
• knife
• spatula
• cutting board
• serrated knife

Directions

1. Cook garlic and ginger in oil in an 8- to 9-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add mirin, soy sauce, and salt (omit salt if making ahead; see cooks' note, below) and simmer, stirring, 15 seconds.
3. Transfer marinade to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
4. Add shrimp and cilantro, tossing to coat, and marinate, covered and chilled, 1 hour.
5. Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
6. Turn bread loaf on its side and evenly cut crust from bottom of loaf using a long serrated knife, discarding crust, then cut a 3/8-inch-thick slice from bottom and trim crust from sides of slice. Put slice on a baking sheet (reserve rest of loaf for another use) and bake, turning over once, until dry but not colored, 8 minutes total.
7. Remove bread from oven but leave on baking sheet.
8. Immediately increase oven temperature to 475°F.
9. Spread top of hot toast with all of shrimp mixture, packing it down into a thick even layer and covering surface entirely. Make sure oven temperature has reached 475°F, then bake shrimp toast until topping is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
10. Transfer with a large flat spatula to a rack to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board.
11. Halve shrimp toast crosswise with a very sharp knife, then cut each half lengthwise into fourths, making 8 strips total.
12. Cut each strip into 4 pieces.
13. Serve toasts warm or at room temperature.
14. *Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets.
15. Shrimp can be marinated (without salt in marinade) up to 4 hours. Stir in salt before proceeding.