Crispy Shrimp with Sweet and Sour Sauce

With its crispy coating, juicy shrimp, and perfectly balanced sweet and sour sauce, this dish creates lasting memories. Let's uncover the cooking secrets behind this delightful creation.

Why do I love this recipe?

The sweet and sour flavor is never tiresome: The proportion of the sweet and sour sauce is just right. The balance between white sugar and black vinegar is perfect, neither overly sweet to make you feel sick nor overly sour to make you frown.

Smart handling of the shrimp: Slitting the shrimp not only makes them more flavorful but also causes them to curl into beautiful balls when fried.

Quick operation and no messy hands: It can be done in 20 minutes from marinating the shrimp to serving, and only one pot needs to be washed throughout the process.

Highly flexible: I've tried replacing the shrimp with chicken breast chunks, and they still taste great after being coated with starch and fried.

Required ingredients and substitutions

Shrimp: Either fresh or frozen shrimp will do, but make sure to slit and devein them. You can also replace them with small pieces of basa fish or chicken breast. Just extend the frying time by 1 minute.

Cornstarch slurry: Cornstarch or potato starch works the same way. Sweet potato starch will be stickier. If you don't have any starch on hand, you can use egg white with a little flour instead, but the crust won't be as crispy.

White sugar: Brown sugar will make the color darker. If using honey, halve the amount and drizzle it at the end. People who need to control their sugar intake can use zero - calorie sweeteners, but add two drops of lemon juice to balance the sweetness.

Black vinegar: Xiang vinegar is milder, and apple cider vinegar has a fruity aroma. If using white vinegar, halve the amount to avoid it being too sour. If you like a fruity aroma, you can squeeze half an orange's juice to replace it.

Scallion - ginger juice: Freshly squeezed scallion - ginger juice has the best flavor. For a lazy option, you can use ginger powder + minced garlic (in a 1:2 ratio). People sensitive to ginger can replace it with onion juice and add a little white pepper powder to enhance the aroma.

Frying oil: Peanut oil makes the food the most fragrant when frying, but coconut oil has a special aroma. If you prefer a lighter taste, you can use rice bran oil or sunflower oil. Don't use butter as it easily burns.

How to select shrimp?

Key points for selecting fresh shrimp:

The shrimp shells should be semi - transparent with a bluish - gray luster. The surface feels moist but not sticky when touched. The connection between the shrimp head and body is tight and won't separate easily when gently pulled. When pressing the shrimp meat, it can bounce back quickly without feeling soft and floppy.

Precautions for selecting frozen shrimp:

Choose packages with a thin and evenly distributed ice coat. You should be able to clearly see the texture of the shrimp body through the ice layer. After thawing, the shrimp body naturally curves into a C - shape. If it is straight and stiff, it may have been frozen and thawed repeatedly. It should only have a faint sea - water smell. Avoid shrimp with a pungent chemical smell.

For this recipe, it is recommended to use medium - sized shrimp that are 15 - 20 centimeters long. If the shrimp are too small, they are likely to become dried out during frying. If they are too large, they are not easy to absorb the flavor. Black tiger shrimp have firm meat and can withstand frying. White - leg shrimp are sweet, but they shrink significantly after frying.