Recipe: Thai Shrimp "Bruschetta"

the appetizer:

In Simply Shrimp, James Peterson blends delicate shrimp with influences from the world's cuisines, including recipes like Thai Shrimp "Bruschetta" (Thailand & Italy), Saganaki (Greece & Turkey), and Shrimp Tagine (Morocco).

Thai Shrimp "Bruschetta"

Makes 24 bruschette

The most famous bruschette—the plural, pronounced broo-SKE-tay—are the little chicken liver canapes served in restaurants in Tuscany. Variations have become so common that nowadays just about anything served on a piece of baguette toast qualifies. You can make up your own variations using different relishes, salsas, and chutneys, but this one is particularly worth trying because of its Thai flavors and the sweet marinated cucumbers.

Ingredients

1 long hothouse cucumber, peeled
3 tablespoons sugar
2 dried chipotle chiles, soaked for 30 minutes in warm water
     and drained, or 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobe sauce,
     sauce rinsed off, or 2 jalapeño chiles; stemmed,
     seeded and chopped fine
2 tomatoes, peeled, stemmed, seeded and cut 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce or more to taste
24 1/4-inch-thick baguette slices, toasted under the broiler on one side only
24 large shrimp, sautéed in oil for 3 minutes, peeled, deveined,
and halved horizontally
24 mint leaves

Directions

1. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop the seeds out of each half. Slice the cucumber lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Cut the strips crosswise to make 1/4-inch dice. Toss the dice with the sugar and rub your hands until you don't feel the sugar. Let drain in a colander for 30 minutes.

2. Combine the diced tomatoes with the chiles.

3. Squeeze the cucumber dice in your fists to extract as much liquid as possible. Toss the cucumber with the fish sauce.

4. Just before serving, place 1-1/2 teaspoons of cucumber dice on the baguette slices. Place 2 shrimp halves on the cucumber and top with a teaspoon of tomato dice. Place a mint leaf on each.