Rosie Loves Her Fried Shrimp.

The Hawthornes always have shrimp in their freezers.

We start buying up shrimp in mid to late summer

and continue up to whatever hurricane comes our way

and washes the rest of the shrimp out to sea.

Also, I have found is I want good fried shrimp,

I must make it myself.

Today, I had a hankerin' for fried shrimp

with a sweet and sour sauce.

And here's how I made it.

I fixed the sweet and sour sauce first.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Mix all together in a small saucepan:

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup chopped yellow and orange peppers

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple

I  happened to have a fresh pineapple,

so that's what I used.

You could use canned if that's what you have.

Heat over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved,

and mixture starts to simmer.

Pour in a cornstarch slurry - 

one TB cornstarch  dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water.

Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat, cover, and keep warm.

I'm going with a wet batter today.

Rosie's Shrimp Batter

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Togarashi seasoning

about 1 cup buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients

then whisk in buttermilk until smooth.

In case you're unfamiliar with Togarashi seasoning,

it's simply a blend of seasonings -

red chile peppers, black and white sesame seeds,

poppy seeds, orange and lemon zests.

If you don't have the Togarashi,

you could substitute cayenne or red pepper flakes

and add in some lemon or orange zest,

or just use a seasoned pepper, like Lawry's (my old stand-by). 

Dip the shrimp in the batter mixture

and shake off any excess batter.

For frying:

 I use peanut oil in a heavy fry pan.

About 3 inches of oil.

Heat oil to around 380°.

Most importantly,

do NOT crowd the pan when you're frying.

You want to maintain that hot temperature.

So I gently drop one shrimp at a time into the hot oil

and fry no more than 4 or 5 at a time.

 Depending on the size of the shrimp,

and these were fairly large shrimp,

fry time should be 60-90 seconds.

You want a nice golden color.

Remove from hot oil, let drain.

I served these over a bed of Jasmine rice

with the sweet and sour sauce.

If you wanted to throw some toasted peanuts

or toasted sesame seeds in there,

go right ahead.

I wouldn't stop you.

Enjoy!