Feng Shui Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Marinate the Shrimp

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together soy sauce and cornstarch.

3. Add shrimp, making sure all sides are coated, and marinate in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Make the Sauce

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, mix together cornstarch, soy sauce (add soy sauce slowly and stir to avoid lumps), rice wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder, and the juice from the pineapple chunks (reserve the pineapple chunks for later in the recipe.)

3. Set sauce aside.

Stir Fry the Dish

1. Heat wok or stir-fry pan over medium-high heat and add oil. When the oil is hot, add shrimp together with the marinade to the pan and stir-fry until just cooked (shrimp will start to curl and turn pink). Remove shrimp to bowl or plate.

2. Add more oil to wok or pan if needed and stir-fry celery and carrot to soften and then remove the vegetables to a bowl (not the one with the shrimp).

3. Add more oil if needed and add onion and stir-fry briefly to soften.

4. Return carrots and celery along with bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Add pineapple chunks and return the shrimp to the pan. Stir-fry for a few seconds.

6. Re-stir sauce and pour into wok or pan. Stir everything in the wok or pan and bring to a boil so the mixture can thicken.

7. Immediately remove from heat and serve with Chinese white rice or over crispy noodles.

The Yin and Yang of This Dish 

Sweet-and-sour dishes are a wonderfully delicious way to experience the yin and yang of Chinese cooking.

• In this recipe, a variety of colors are used in the vegetables to increase the elemental balance.

• Additionally, in Chinese cooking, it is common for most of the ingredients to be the same shape. This is done so the ingredients cook evenly together, the ingredients balance each other, and because it looks pretty.

• If you decide not to use the celery and carrot, you can cut all the vegetables into chunks to match the pineapple and the shrimp shapes. Chunks of celery and carrot would overpower the dish and take too long to cook, that's why they are sliced.

Source: Feng Shui Consultant Leslie Jacobson. Reprinted with permission.