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December 15, 2006
What is XO sauce?
When I was living in Singapore, I subscribed to the only monthly food magazine that was available and it was called "Eat!". Small in terms of volume but packed with page after page of yummy Pernakan, Chinese, Indonesian and local Singaporean fare, the magazine had several recipes that called for "XO Sauce". I used to wonder what it was and how it was used. Then we moved to Sydney and the term was lost in transit. I don't recall coming across that term in the lovely food magazines here. After I saw it stocked in an old glass cabinet at the local Asian grocer, I asked the lady at the counter about it. She had no clue what it was and its purpose in Asian cooking. So I came home and googled it. Don't know why I never thought of googling it before!!
"XO Sauce" is a modern spicy seafood sauce with origins in Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine. It is made of dried seafood, such as scallop, fish and shrimp, mixed with chile, onion, garlic and oil. Once the prestigious concoction only confined to high-class seafood restaurants, it can now be found on store shelves, produced by Asian food companies like Lee Kum Kee and Amoy.
Nicknamed the "Caviar Of The Orient", XO Sauce is essentially a flavour enhancer and a brilliant condiment. It is also known as Kong Kong Sauce and below is a typical recipe to make this sauce at home. It seems like a tedious and time consuming task. [As for me, I am heading out to buy it from the Asian supermarket!]
Basic XO Sauce Recipe
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150g fresh red chilis
250g dried scallops (conpoy)
150g garlic clove, minced
150g onion, finely diced
100g tiny dried shrimp (unshelled variety)
50g Jinhua ham
50g salted cured fish
25g large dried shrimp (shelled variety)
1/2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
Wash and remove the seeds and stems from the chilies. Heat wok on low and add oil for stir-frying. When oil is ready, add the chilies. Stir-fry until they are heated through.
Remove the chilies from the heat and drain. Dry in the sun until completely dried (about 2 - 3 days). Reconstitute conpoy (dried scallops) by soaking in water for 2-3 hours, then steaming for 3 hours until soft. Reserve the liquid accumulated as a result of steaming. When cooled, finely shred the conpoy by hand.
Soak the tiny shrimp in water for 3 hours. Drain the shrimp and mince finely.
Finely dice ham into 2mm cubes. Dice fish into 3mm cubes.
Heat wok on high heat and add up to 2 - 4 cups* oil for frying. Add garlic, onion, and tiny shrimp and fry until the mixture stops steaming? At that point add the chilies, ham, and fish, and continue to cook until chilies become translucent. Add the conpoy and shelled dried shrimp and ground black pepper and turn the heat down to low. Continue to cook until only a little steam rises from the mixture. Remove from the heat and cool. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Posted by Gel at December 15, 2006 6:12 PM
