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Coffin bread

Fried toast box with chowder

Kuann-tshâ-pán (棺材板): a deep-fried box of thick toast filled with creamy chicken, prawn and squid chowder

Lift the lid of fried toast and you find a hot, creamy chowder of chicken, prawns, squid and vegetables, a Western-style snack invented in a Tainan market in the years after the war and now sold at the city's night markets in the evening. The crisp golden shell softens where it meets the sauce, so each bite is part crunch, part buttery white sauce. The name, which means coffin board, comes from the lid's resemblance to a casket. Most people overfill a shell that has not been hollowed deeply enough, and it collapses; leave walls about 1 cm thick. Chef's tip: fry the bread boxes just before filling and make the chowder slightly thicker than you think; it loosens as it sits in the hot toast.
Total time
45 min
Difficulty
medium
Serves
4
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Ingredients

Serves4

For the bread

For the filling

To serve

  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley (optional)chopped

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Method

0/8 done
  1. Step 1: Melt 1 ⅜ oz butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 1 carrot for 4 minutes, until the onion is soft and see-through.

    4 min
  2. Step 2: Add 7 oz boneless chicken breast and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until it turns white on the outside.

    3 min
  3. Step 3: Sprinkle in 1 ¼ oz plain flour and stir for 1 minute so it loses its raw taste, then whisk in 1 ¼ cups whole milk and ¾ cup chicken stock a little at a time until smooth.

    2 min
  4. Step 4: Simmer gently, stirring often, until the sauce is thick enough to hold a trail when you drag a spoon through it. Check the chicken: the largest cube should read 165°F or be white all the way through.

    6 min
  5. Step 5: Add 3 ½ oz raw peeled prawns, 3 ½ oz cleaned squid and 2 ⅛ oz frozen peas and simmer for 2–3 minutes, just until the prawns are pink and the squid is opaque. Season with ¾ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground white pepper, then keep warm on the lowest heat.

    3 min
  6. Step 6: Heat 4 ¼ cups neutral oil in a deep pan to 350°F. Fry the 4 slices unsliced white sandwich loaf slices two at a time, turning, until deep golden and crisp all over. Drain on a rack.

    5 min
  7. Step 7: Using a small sharp knife, cut around the top of each fried block 1 cm in from the edge and 1 cm deep, and lift it off as a lid. Scoop out the soft bread inside, leaving walls and a base about 1 cm thick.

  8. Step 8: Spoon the hot filling into the boxes until slightly heaped, set the lid on at an angle and scatter over 1 tbsp fresh parsley. Serve at once, with a knife and fork.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
590 kcal
Protein
30 g
Carbs
48 g
Fat
30 g
Fibre
3 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does coffin bread take?
About 45 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
What can I use instead of butter?
The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
What can I use instead of onion?
2 shallots per onion.

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