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!
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.
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YUM! Can’t wait to try!
Thanks, Bill, for this delicious-looking recipe. I love making your recipes and have been successful thus far. In fact, I made shrimp in oyster sauce and chicken chop suey for my son two nights ago and he loved them both. But I have yet to do a fried dish. Can I reuse the oil and if so how do I store it? Have a blessed Easter weekend.
Hi Jan, we reuse the oil for frying and also for stir-frying. After the oil has cooled down but is still warm (makes it easier to pour and strain) pour it through a fine-mesh strainer to strain out any large bits but leave any fine residue at the bottom of the pot and discard it. Refrigerate the oil to keep it fresh longer and use it whenever you need oil for stir-frying, braising, etc. Happy cooking!
Another must try recipe!
Hi Bibi, yes, you must try this sweet and sour shrimp :)
The recipe looks delicious. What if I leave out the red wine vinegar? Any substitute?
Thanks Bill
Hi Gurpreet, you can use plain white vinegar also!
I had to read the recipe twice to be sure it said to fry the shrimp twice. OK, you’re the chef. I’ll be making this dish on Saturday.
I always buy the flash frozen shrimp too, unless I’m buying it off the dock.
Hi Craig, double frying ensures a crispy batter. Hope you enjoy it!
Do y’all think this sauce would be good blended, and then dipping the fried shrimp in it?
I’ll definitely try the regular version first, but I imagine it’d also be good as I described.
Hu Cody, that would be tasty. See our recipe for Fantail shrimp which is essentially what you describe.
Question: if i use flash frozen shrimp as you suggest, should i velvet them before processing in batter and frying? Does the flash frozen shrimp need to be treated that way? will it make a difference?
Hi Don, no velveting is needed. Just clean and pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel before coating them with batter and frying.
I love shrimp, but cannot tolerate sweet peppers. Can I just leave them out or substitute with something else? I can eat hot peppers. I have made many of your dishes an all have been successful . Thanks.
Hi Sandra, you can leave out the red pepper and if you want an interesting zing, add some hot peppers instead ;-)
Bill may have another answer on a sub for the pineapple in this recipe but in your shoes, I’d try some apricot preserves and a spritz of lemon juice. There is a recipe on this site for a duck sauce and it calls for pickled plum, which I was lucky enough to find in an Asian grocery store here. If you can find the plum, maybe some commercially-made duck sauce would work? I just know that I’m having some really good food from this blog and hope you will too–good luck!
Hi Sandi, good suggestions and thank you for your vote of confidence :)
I have made the duck sauce recipe many times, the plum really makes it. This year I am going to try to pickle some green gauge plums before they ripen, it is said it is the same type of plum.
Hi Barb, I am not actually sure what kind of plums they are but I think they should be green or red plums. Give the green plums a try and I bet they will be delicious!
Recipe looks really good, except I am allergic to pineapple. Would it be better to just leave it out or substitute something?
Hi Barb, you can leave the pineapple out if you’re allergic.
Famous Hong Kong Chef Alvin Leung uses Lychees instead of Pineapple for his sweet and sour dishes, as he dislikes the Pineapple in it. Similarly, some high end places in HK use fresh Peaches in place of Pineapple.
Hi Alfred, yes, it’s all up to your personal tastes and preferences, especially if you like lychees :)
haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I don’t care for pineapple in my S&S shrimp.
Can I just leave out the pineapple & pineapple juice?
Hi Judy, yes, you can leave out the pineapple and the juice. You may have to add more sugar to make up for the missing pineapple just so taste and adjust to your own liking.