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Udang Saos Tomat (Sweet and Sour Shrimp)

Posting Date: 09/24/15

Udang Saos Tomat (Sweet and Sour Shrimp)

Sweet and Sour Shrimp is an Indonesian recipe of Chinese influence. Unlike the sweet and sour shrimp sold in US Chinese restaurants, Indonesian's sweet and sour recipe comes with vegetables (pineapple, etc.). I noticed Thai restaurants also serve it with vegetables and so does Cantonese's. I prefer it with vegetables. After all, we need to eat vegetables daily. In addition, the sauce used in Indonesia is less thick and not gooey unlike the one from US Chinese restaurants. It is also less sweet. Personally, I like the Indonesian style. However, some people prefer sweet sauce. Because of that, I make the recipe adjustable. To make it sweet, add more sugar to the sauce. If you like it sour, add more ketchup. If you prefer it to be gooey, let the sauce boil a little longer. If you prefer it thin, add more water to the sauce. Instead of using shrimp, you can use chicken or pork.

While frying shrimp, the oil will splatter. So, you should use splatter screen after you drop shrimp in the oil. In addition, I use 2 different temperatures, the first one is medium when I drop the shrimp so that it will not splatter when I drop the shrimp and the second one is medium high when I cook the shrimp. Medium high heat is used to prevent shrimp from becoming soggy.



Ingredients:

  • For shrimp breading: 7 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • For shrimp breading: 4 tablespoons corn starch
  • For shrimp breading: 1/2 cup water
  • For shrimp breading: 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 lbs of shrimp (peeled and deveined but leave the tails on) or skinless and boneless chicken breast (cut into squares of 3/4")
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 1 inch of ginger, grated
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 2 tablespoons of sugar, adjust the amount depending on your preference if you want it to be on the sweet or sour side
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 3 tablespoons of water
  • For sweet and sour sauce: 2 tablespoon of corn starch
  • For sweet and sour sauce and shrimp breading: salt
  • For sweet and sour sauce and shrimp breading: pepper
  • Vegetable oil for frying shrimp/chicken and sauteeing ginger and garlic
  • 1 can of slice pineapple, cut into squares of 3/4". Reserve the pineapple juice since it will be used for the sweet and sour sauce. Do not use crushed pineapple since slice pineapple has better texture for this recipe.
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into squares of 3/4"
  • 1 carrot, sliced at an angle to 1/6" thick
  • 1 cucumber, remove the seeds and cut into 1"x1"
  • 1/2 yellow or white onion, cut into squares of 3/4"

Methods:

  1. Mix all purpose flour, 4 tablespoons of corn starch, water, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper in a bowl to make batter for shrimp/chicken.
  2. Heat up vegetable oil on medium heat. Use enough oil to fry shrimp. You don't need to use a lot of oil. Just enough oil to cover shrimp during cooking.
  3. Dip shrimp/chicken in the batter. Shake off the extra batter from the shrimp/chicken before frying it. To make sure shrimp/chicken doesn't stick with each other and cause the temperature to drop, cook it in batches. Drop shrimp/chicken in the oil. The oil will splatter during cooking, so use splatter screen after you drop the shrimp/chicken. Turn the heat to medium high after you place splatter screen. Cooking it on medium high will prevent the shrimp/chicken from becoming soggy. Once the bottom side is golden brown, flip to the other side and cook it until golden brown and transfer it to a plate lined with paper towel. Reduce the heat back to medium before you start with the next batch. Reducing the temperature before you drop the next batch will reduce the amount of splattering. Repeat this step until all shrimp/chicken are cooked.
  4. Mix 3 tablespoons of water, 2 tablespoons of corn starch, and ketchup in a small bowl to make the sauce.
  5. Heat up vegetable oil on a medium heat. Saute ginger and garlic until they become aromatic.
  6. Add carrot and red bell pepper and stir fry it until they are slightly soften but not fully cooked since we will finish cooking it with the sauce.
  7. Pour in the sauce and mix it with the vegetables.
  8. Add can of pineapple juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and sugar.
  9. Once the sauce is boiled, turn off the heat. Add the shrimp/chicken, cucumber, and pineapple and mix it with the sauce.
  10. Serve it while hot.

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