Sweet and sour shrimp is an impressive yet easy dish. Eating shrimp can be a luxury, especially when going out. But by making this sweet and sour shrimp recipe at home, you can splurge on yourself a little while keeping to a budget!
Crispy fried shrimp goes really well with a well-crafted sweet and sour sauce, and we think that this recipe hits the mark. Bell peppers and onions add a nice fragrance to the sauce, and frying the ketchup brings out a nice caramelized flavor.
Plus, we call for 16 large shrimp in this recipe—much more than you would get for a typical order at a restaurant!
Pair this sweet and sour shrimp with a stir-fried bok choy, a beef and broccoli, and steamed rice, and you’ll have a restaurant-quality feast on a budget.
Buying Shrimp at the Grocery Store: Go Frozen
Judy and I always buy flash-frozen shrimp at our local supermarket that come in two-pound bags.
We’ve said this before, but it’s actually better to buy frozen shrimp, because they are flash frozen soon after they are caught, whereas shrimp that is sold “fresh,” may have been thawed, refrozen, and thawed again! We find the texture of frozen shrimp to be superior to thawed shrimp at the seafood counter.
We usually wait until shrimp goes on sale and/or when we see coupons, and pick up a bag and store them in our freezer. It’s much more economical, and with a two pound bag you can easily make 2 to 3 dishes of sweet and sour shrimp, shrimp with broccoli, or our classic shrimp with lobster sauce.
Recipe Tips Before You Begin
- You’ll fry the shrimp twice. Make sure you wait at least 5 minutes after the first fry before frying the shrimp again. This allows the shrimp to cool and for some moisture to escape, resulting in a crispier batter after the second fry.
- If you are making sweet and sour shrimp ahead of time, you can fry the shrimp once, make the sauce, and store them separately. Once ready, you can refry the shrimp and reheat the sauce.
- If you have lots of dishes to cook in addition to this one, pre-make both the shrimp and sauce, and keep them separate until just before serving. When you’re ready to eat, pour the sauce over the fried shrimp to keep them crispy.
- I know many of you will ask whether or not you can use an air fryer. Air fryers are great for reheating previously fried shrimp, but since you have to batter the shrimp, an air fryer will not work for actually frying the shrimp! The batter will just make a mess in your air fryer tray!
Ok, let’s get to the recipe!
Sweet and Sour Shrimp Recipe Instructions
Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. Heat 3 inches of oil in a small pot to 325°F. (Using a smaller pot conserves oil.) If you don’t have a thermometer, check the temperature by putting a drop of batter into the oil. The batter should sizzle, rise immediately to the surface, and stay a light color. If it turns brown right away, the oil is too hot.
To make the batter, mix together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, turmeric, and white pepper. Just before you’re ready to fry, mix in the sesame oil and cold seltzer water until the batter is smooth.
Next, drop the shrimp into the batter. Ensure they are evenly coated, but allow the excess to drip off. Carefully place the shrimp into the oil one piece at a time, ensuring that they don’t stick to each other. Fry in batches so the shrimp aren’t overcrowded and don’t stick together. Turn the shrimp as needed and cook each batch for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
Scoop the shrimp out using a slotted spoon. Transfer to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet to drain. Repeat until all the shrimp has been fried.
Next, put two teaspoons of the frying oil in a separate wok or skillet over high heat. Toss in the onions and red and green bell peppers.
Stir-fry for 30 seconds, then clear a place in the center of the wok. Add another teaspoon of oil, along with the ketchup, and fry for another 20 seconds.
(Frying the ketchup brings out the color, creating a better depth of flavor in the sweet and sour sauce.)
Mix in the pineapple, pineapple juice, water, red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring the liquid to a low simmer for 2 minutes.
While the sauce is coming up to a simmer, refry your shrimp in batches (with the oil heated to 350°F). The temperature will drop when you add the shrimp. Continue frying at around 325°F for about 2 minutes.
With the sweet and sour sauce still simmering, slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon.
Once all of the shrimp are fried, toss them into the wok. Fold them into the sauce with 3 or 4 scooping motions to lightly coat the shrimp.
Serve immediately!
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Recipe
Sweet and Sour Shrimp
Ingredients
For the shrimp:
- 16 peeled and deveined shrimp (16 to 20 size; 16 shrimp at this size equals about 12-16 ounces/340-450g)
- neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or peanut oil, for frying)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch turmeric powder (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 cup cold seltzer or club soda
For the sweet and sour sauce:
- 1/3 cup red onion (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 1/3 cup red bell pepper (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 1/3 cup green bell pepper (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 3/4 cup canned pineapple chunks
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice from can
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
Instructions
- Pat your shrimp dry with a paper towel. Heat 3 inches of oil in a small pot to 325°F. (Using a smaller pot conserves oil.) If you don’t have a thermometer, check the temperature by putting a drop of batter into the oil. The batter should sizzle, rise immediately to the surface, and stay a light color. If it turns brown right away, the oil is too hot.
- To make the batter, mix together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, turmeric, and white pepper. Just before you’re ready to fry, mix in the sesame oil and cold seltzer water until the batter is smooth.
- Next, drop the shrimp into the batter. Ensure they are evenly coated, but allow the excess to drip off. Carefully place the shrimp into the oil one piece at a time, ensuring that they don’t stick to each other. Fry in batches so the shrimp aren’t overcrowded and don’t stick together, turning the shrimp as needed and cooking each batch for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Scoop the shrimp out using a slotted spoon, and transfer to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet to drain. Repeat until all the shrimp has been fried.
- Next, put two teaspoons of the frying oil in a separate wok or skillet over high heat, and toss in the onions and red and green bell peppers. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, then clear a place in the center of the wok. Add another teaspoon of oil, along with the ketchup, and fry for another 20 seconds.
- Mix in the pineapple, pineapple juice, water, red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring the liquid to a low simmer for 2 minutes.
- While the sauce is coming up to a simmer, refry your shrimp in batches (with the oil heated to 350°F). The temperature will drop when you add the shrimp. Continue frying at around 325°F for about 2 minutes.
- With the sweet and sour sauce still simmering, slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Once all of the shrimp are fried, toss them into the wok, and fold into the sauce with 3 or 4 scooping motions until they are lightly coated. Serve immediately!
Nutrition Facts
DINNERWARE
If you like the beautiful yellow bowl we used in this post, check out Musubi Kiln, a company that sources traditional handcrafted tableware from Japanese artisans. Here’s the link to the bowl itself.
For 5% off your purchase, use coupon code: THEWOKSOFLIFE
