11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp is another of those dishes that I’d love to order from a restaurant and would not think to make at home. Simply Delicious has quite a few Chinese restaurant-style dishes, including 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken, 6-11: Chinese Duck, and 11-36: Hong Kong Shrimp.
It just so happens that Sweet and Sour Sauce is my favorite version of any dish on a Chinese menu. Shrimp is a decent choice.
The TIPS Section provided a helpful suggestion which I actually utilized in this post. I used apple cider vinegar for its extra tangy flavor.
There’s so many ingredients in this recipe. I substituted sliced bamboo shoots for water chestnuts. Bamboo, water chestnuts, same thing.
It was easy to put together the sauce with the reserved pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, chicken base, and brown mustard because it’s the closest to dry mustard that we had in the house at the time. I made this first before I started chopping.
It was quick work to chop the onion, carrots and bamboo shoots. I made the pieces similar sized so they will cook evenly.
This time, I used the large skillet instead of the flat bottomed wok that I used in a prior Simply Delicious recipe. I let the veggies sauté a little longer and then I pulled them from the pan to get ready for heating up the shrimp.
Heating up the shrimp from frozen doesn’t take long. The steam and haze is from the water evaporating from the sizzling.
A super rare action shot! Pouring the sauce base into the pan gave a satisfying hiss and the smell of pineapple juice filled the air.
The sauce started to thicken right away. It is important to stir the cornstarch into the liquid before heating it up. You want the starch to distribute evenly.
Finally, I added the vegetables, pineapple chunks, and bamboo shoots into the pan. It takes only a few minutes for everything to heat to the same temperature. When I started cooking this dish, I thought ahead and got some rice going in the rice cooker.
Wow! It’s like I ordered a dish from my favorite restaurant, but I made it all myself. Just like the other Chinese-inspired Simply Delicious recipes, it is more difficult to make this dish at home instead of just having it delivered. Served with a side of rice, this aromatic shrimp dish is both sweet and sour.
GRADE: B+, would be A if less prep work were involved
