Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Background and Motivation:

Well the wife's away, so that means it's time to cook something for myself. Grey's Anatomy is on tonight, so it needs to be good, simple, and fast.

Sweet and sour shrimp to the rescue. As the name implies, this food has the amazing property of being both sweet and sour at the same time (yes, I am easily amused). You can eat it by itself or with another dish (such as steamed rice).

Variables for The Shrimp:
.5 lbs raw unshelled shrimp (I used Key West Pink Shrimp)
Vegetable oil

The Sauce:
1 tbsp. chopped green onion
2 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
1.5 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. rice wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock

The Finish:
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. sesame oil
Some pretty green stuff (like lettuce leaves)

Algorithm:

Clean the shrimp and remove the little tails (but not the shells). You'll want to pat them dry since we'll be placing these in hot oil.

Get a wok (or anything resembling a wok) and place enough oil in it to cover all the shrimp. Heat the oil (approximately medium-high until you see small bubbles in the oil). Place the shrimp into the oil (I used chopsticks to do this part) and fry for about a minute or until cooked. Afterwards, place the shrimp on some paper towels.

Now discard all but a tablespoon or so of the oil. Reduce the heat to approximately medium and add the green onions and ginger. Let that cook for a few seconds and add all the other
sauce ingredients. Let it cook at a light boil for a few minutes.

Finally, add the shrimp and the Finish ingredients to the wok. The cornstarch should make the entire concoction thicker and give it the texture that we've all come to expect from Chinese buffets. Let it cook for another minute or two while you thoroughly mix everything.

To serve place everything on top of your desired leaf vegetable (I used baby greens). At this stage you may be wondering whether to eat the shrimp with or without the shells. I tried both: the deep frying made the shells more edible and it had a nice, crunchy texture. I suspect that a shrimp with a less tough shell (the key west pink has a pretty thick one) would be better for this. If you don't like the shell... well then take it off. This is going to be messy though, so good luck.

Execution Time: Approximately 30 mins.

Servings: 2 medium servings.