XO Sauce

What is XO sauce? XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce origin from Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine. It is made from dry scallop; dry shrimps, ham, chilies, shallots and garlic are cooked over medium heat for some time. It’s spicy, salty and sweet and if you’re a chili lover, you’ll find this sauce irresistible. XO sauce is also known as the ‘Caviar of the Orient’ is an essential flavor enhancer and a condiment. Not may people make this sauce as home as it is tedious and time consuming and it is easier to just head out to the Asian supermarket to buy one. I made this because I think it cost too much at the store. A tiny little bottle cost like $6.00. Since I have all the ingredients at home I tried making this at home. This sauce is very versatile. You can use it as dipping sauce or add it into your cooking or just eat it with rice or noodles.

By looking the all the ingredients I am sure you know how this sauce will smell like. I bought an electrical skillet just to cook this outside the deck. I don’t think Carlos can tolerate the pungent smell that will lingers around for days ha ha... I want to cook this sauce for a longer period of time but the smell attracts a huge swarm of flies to the deck and it was freaking me out. So I cut short the cooking time but nevertheless it still taste really good.

I was warming up the XO sauce in the microwave to eat it with my noodles and guess what my husband said. He said it smells so bad that he ran and hides in our computer room and he stays there for hours until the smell disappeared. He said I’ve cooked food that smells funky but this one takes the cake. To me it smells so good just like what his said about his stinky cheese ha ha… Since some of you request for the recipe so here it is. I hope you enjoy cooking and eating this great sauce

Ingredients:

10 fresh red chilies
15 dried chilies – soak in hot water
200g dried scallops – soak overnight until soft
2 head of garlic - peeled
10 shallots - peeled
200g dried shrimp – soak in hot water until soft
150g Chinese ham –I used the normal supermarket ham
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
Salt to taste

1. Drain scallops, tear them into find shreds, pat it dry on paper towel and set it aside. Drain .dry shrimps and chopped if finely and set it aside.
2. Put the shallots in food processor and chop it finely. Do the same to the garlic too, remove and set it aside.
3. Remove the steam and seeds of the fresh chilies and dry chilies. Chopped it finely in the food processor and set it aside. Next chopped the ham and set it aside.
4. Heat up about a cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Add in scallops and frying it until crispy and lightly brown. Remove and set it aside. In the same oil, add in garlic, shallots and dried prawns. Stir constantly and cook until lightly brown.
5. Add in ham, and chilies. Lower down the heat and continue to fry for another 10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Stir constantly as it may burn easily.
6. Add in the oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and lastly add in the fried scallops. Continue stir fry until it is completely dry. Remove from heat and let it cool. Transfer to sterile jar and keep in the refrigerator.