Method
- Heat oil to 180°C. Deep-fry the thick bread slices for 4 minutes, turning, until they're deeply golden and the outside is shatter-crisp. Drain on a rack.
- Make the filling: melt butter in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cook 4 minutes. Add chicken and shiitake; cook 4 more minutes until the chicken is just done.
- Add prawns, calamari, peas and sweetcorn. Stir 90 seconds.
- Sprinkle flour over the mixture; stir for 60 seconds to absorb the butter — the flour-and-butter forms a roux that will thicken.
- Slowly whisk in milk and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer; cook 4 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with white pepper and salt. Don't over-salt; the bread already adds saltiness.
- Cut a deep horizontal slit in the side of each fried bread slice — almost all the way through — to create a hollow chamber. Pry open. Spoon the hot creamy filling into the chamber generously. Top with sliced spring onion. Press the top of the bread back down to form the 'coffin lid'. Serve immediately on a plate; eat with a knife and fork by cutting through the bread to release the filling.
Common questions
Can Coffin Bread be made ahead?
Coffin Bread is best made and eaten the same day, but the components can be prepped earlier — chop and measure the ingredients up to a day ahead, refrigerated separately. Final cooking takes about 25 minutes.
Is Coffin Bread spicy?
Coffin Bread as written is mild to mildly warming — the heat comes from aromatics rather than chili. Add fresh sliced chili or chili oil at the end if you'd like to push it spicier.
Is Coffin Bread vegetarian or gluten-free?
This recipe is suitable for most diets. If you have specific restrictions, the substitutions section in each ingredient note covers the most common swaps.
How hard is Coffin Bread to make at home?
Coffin Bread sits at intermediate difficulty — total time about 45 minutes. The ingredients are not unusual but the timing requires attention.
Can Coffin Bread be scaled up or down?
This recipe is written for 4 servings. To scale, multiply each ingredient proportionally; the cooking times stay the same up to about double the volume. Beyond that, expect to cook in batches because of pan size and heat distribution.
Cultural Note
Coffin bread was invented in 1940s Tainan by a chef named Hsu Liu-yi. The original name was 'Western pot bread'; the rebrand to 'coffin bread' was supposedly a Taiwanese university professor's joking observation that the bread looked like a coffin lid. The name stuck and gave the dish notoriety. Tainan still has the original specialty restaurant; tour buses pull up daily. The Western-style cream filling is the Tainan touch ? the city was strongly influenced by Japanese-Western culinary exchange during the 1900s-1940s.
