Coffin Bread

Ingredients

Bread

• 4very thick slices of white bread, about 5 cm thick
• or 4 small unsliced white loaves

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

Filling

• 150 gsquid, in rings
• 150 gprawns, peeled
• 100 gchicken, diced
• 1onion, diced
• 1carrot, diced
• 100 gpeas
• 100 gbutton mushrooms, sliced

Sauce

• 40 gbutter
• 3 tbspplain flour
• 300 mlmilk
• 200 mlchicken stock
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• salt
• a splash of rice wine

To serve

• immediately, with a fork

Directions

1. Use a very thick slice, at least four or five centimetres, or a small unsliced loaf. It needs to be thick enough to hollow out and still have solid walls and a base. Use a soft white bread with a fine crumb, close to a Japanese shokupan or a thick-cut sandwich loaf. Heat the frying oil to about 180°C.
2. Fry the whole thick slices until deep golden on all sides, turning them. That is the entire structural point of the dish, and an oven-toasted version leaks within a minute.
3. Fry the sides as well as the top and bottom, since any unsealed face lets sauce through. It takes two or three minutes a side. Drain it briefly on a wire rack. Cut a lid off the top with a sharp knife, keeping it whole. Then cut around the inside, leaving walls about a centimetre thick, and lift out the middle.
4. Leave the walls and base thick enough to hold, since a thin wall bursts under the hot sauce. Make a roux with butter and flour, cooking it for two minutes without colouring. Whisk in the milk and stock gradually, working out lumps as you go.
5. Add the liquid gradually rather than all at once, which is what prevents lumps. Cook the onion, carrot and mushroom in the sauce until tender.
6. Add the seafood and chicken for the last few minutes only. Squid and prawns cook in two or three minutes and go rubbery beyond that. Season with white pepper and salt, and a splash of rice wine. The sauce must be thick, considerably thicker than a pouring sauce.
7. Fill the bread immediately before serving, never in advance. The bread starts absorbing sauce the moment it goes in, and it has perhaps five minutes before it softens. Ladle the hot filling into the hollowed bread, filling it generously. Set the lid on top at an angle, leaning against the filling. Serve it immediately with a fork.

Technique

• The name came from a visiting professor’s remark in 1940s Tainan.
• Deep frying seals the bread so it holds the sauce without collapsing.
• The sauce must be very thick or it soaks straight through.

Substitutions

• A small unsliced white loaf in place of thick slices.
• Any mix of seafood, chicken and vegetables.

Variations

• Curry filling, which is very common.
• Black pepper beef filling.
• Vegetarian, with mushroom and corn.

History

Invented in Tainan in the 1940s; a visiting professor joked the hollowed toast box looked like a coffin, and the seller adopted the name.

Frequently asked questions

What is Coffin Bread?

Coffin Bread is a street food from Taiwan: tainan fried toast box filled with creamy seafood chowder. Invented in Tainan in the 1940s; a visiting professor joked the hollowed toast box looked like a coffin, and the seller adopted the name.

How long does Coffin Bread take to make?

Coffin Bread takes 25 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Coffin Bread?

Yes, within limits. A small unsliced white loaf in place of thick slices. Any mix of seafood, chicken and vegetables.

What is the most important thing to get right in Coffin Bread?

Fry the whole thick slices until deep golden on all sides, turning them. That is the entire structural point of the dish, and an oven-toasted version leaks within a minute.