Fried Shrimps with Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce - Udang Goreng Tepung Saus Kecap Manis

During those last few no-appetite-everything-taste-horrible months, what have I been eating? Just one or two spoonful of rice with a bit of healthy dishes, thanks to SC's parents home nearby. As a token of my appreciation, once I felt good enough to whip something up, I'd bring homemade cakes, desserts or a dish to family dinners.

This was one of those days.

SC's family dinner will be attended by a bunch of lazy boys who won't eat anything with bones or shells. I gotta make something they can pop into their mouth without having to struggle and wrestle with any inedible parts.

Hm, I had a pack of shrimp meat in my fridge.

Perfect.

Let's do some Fried Shrimps with Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce

Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp meat, cleaned, deveined, butterflied
- For frying: corn starch; 1 egg, beaten; bread crumbs seasoned with a bit of salt & pepper; olive oil
For the Sauce:
- half an onion, sliced thinly
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 cm ginger, peeled and crushed
- sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor), worchestershire sauce, ketchup, light soy sauce, pepper
- a bit of corn starch and water for thickening
- freshly squeezed lemon juice

Ready?
Season shrimps with a bit of salt and pepper, and squirt some lemon juice on them. Prepare the frying ingredients on plates and bowls just like below...


Heat up some oil for frying.


Dip shrimps into corn starch, then egg, then seasoned bread crumbs...


...and dip into hot oil, fry over medium heat...


...until they're gloriously golden.

Do this dish right before serving. If you had to wait, you can recrisp the shrimps in the oven for a few minutes.

Now, the sticky sauce.

Saute garlic, onion and ginger in a bit of oil until fragrant, pour kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), light soy, worchestershire sauce, ketchup, mix well. Add a bit of water, bring to boil, taste and adjust flavors until you achieve the perfect balance of sweet and savory with a bit of a tang. Thicken with corn starch and water mix, do not pour over shrimps until right before serving.

To serve...

Place crispy shrimps on a plate, pour sauce over and squeeze more lemon juice if you wish.

The boys loved the shrimps, SC's mom wiped the caramelized onion clean...

...and SC's dad ended up doing the dishes.

Opppps :D