{"id":26171,"date":"2021-09-05T15:04:47","date_gmt":"2021-09-05T07:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tasteasianfood.com\/?p=26171"},"modified":"2022-03-15T18:22:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T10:22:31","slug":"xo-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tasteasianfood.com\/mystaging\/xo-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make XO sauce – a comprehensive guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

XO sauce is the most valuable Cantonese condiment, with various umami flavors concentrated from dried scallops, Jinhua ham, and dried shrimps.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XO sauce got its name from the XO (extra-old) cognac. It is believed the chef developed the recipe at the Peninsular Hotel, a famous hotel in Hong Kong. The name is a misnomer since it does not contain cognac, but this type of description of the food is popular in Chinese cuisine to portray the high quality. It simply means it is a valuable and expensive sauce like an XO cognac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people buy their XO Sauce, which is costly. In addition, you have to settle with a toned-down flavor than the homemade XO sauce that uses higher quality ingredients. If you make it yourself, you can enjoy it at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my <\/em>privacy policy<\/em><\/a> for more info. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"XO<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How to make XO sauce <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

XO sauce has a rich umami taste with a complex sweet, smoky, and salty flavor. The taste of this condiment will dominate any dish. Dried scallops, Jinhua ham, and dried shrimp are deep-fried to accentuate the flavor, then season with wine and soy sauce. The sauce is finally cooked down to a semi-dried, chunky, highly concentrated, umami-packed, relish-like ‘sauce’ suspended in oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Key ingredients for XO sauce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are no set recipes for XO sauce. However, most recipes consist of a triumvirate of universal ingredients: Jinhua ham, dried scallops, and dried shrimp. This XO sauce recipe is no exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jinhua ham (\u91d1\u83ef\u706b\u817f)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jinhua ham is the specialty Chinese ham that originated from the city of Jinhua (also romanized as Kinhwa), located in the center of Zhejiang province in eastern China. It is a type of dry-cured ham which is very salty with an intense bacony taste. Jinhua ham may not be available at some places, and the Smithfield ham or bacon is the closest substitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jinhua<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dried scallops (conpoy, \u4e7e\u8c9d \/ \u6c5f\u7476\u67f1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The dried scallop<\/a> is a popular ingredient in Cantonese cuisine, often used to prepare superior stock and other expensive banquet dishes. You need to soak it for a prolonged period to soften it as it is pretty hard. It has a rich umami taste and smells reminiscent of other sea-cured meat like dried shrimp. Th highly concentrated flavor is mainly from amino acids such as glycine, alanine, and glutamic acid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dried shrimp \u867e\u7c73<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dried shrimp<\/a> is another dried seafood similar to dried scallops but is more widely used due to its lower price compared to dried scallops. It is sun-dried shrimp that shrunk to thumbnail size. It is like scallops, but with its distinct umami flavor. Aga n, you need to soak it before use, but the soaking time required is shorter than dried scallops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other dried seafood ingredients are used in some XO sauce recipes that I do not use here. For example, you can consider including dried fish and dried anchovies if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dried shrimp is also used in making sambal tumis<\/a>, a chili sauce that is hugely popular in Malaysia. You can get the sambal sauce recipe here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dried<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2. Secondary ingredients for XO sauce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are three secondary ingredients for XO sauce: shallots, garlic, and red chilies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shallot and garlic are the aromatics that give the sauce the body, while the red chilies provide spiciness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut the shallot and the garlic manually into small dice. I prefer chopped garlic to crushed garlic because mashed garlic will burn quickly while deep-frying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, cut the red chili into small pieces. Aga n, remove the seeds if you do not want the sauce to taste too spicy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Soak, steam, and cut the dried ingredients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You should start the preparation by soaking the dried ingredients in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dried scallops<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Since dried scallop is quite hard, you need to soak it at least for a few hours or overnight. It takes a long time to steam it until soft if you do not soak it long enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time required depends on how long it has been soaked and the size of the scallops. After soaking, it takes about 45 minutes of steaming to soften the scallops until you can easily shred them into individual strips. You can pick one scallop and shred it from time to time to decide when you should stop steaming the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once softened, remove and let it cool until you can manage with your hands. Next, shred each dried scallop into the individual fine strips. It will take some time to do it, and the process is faster if the scallop has turned soft and tender.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jinhua ham<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cut the Jinhua ham into half-inch thick slices and steam with the dried scallops. Steaming will soften the ham as it is too hard to cut into small dice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ham will soften in twenty minutes. However, I steam the ham together with the dried scallops and remove it much longer than fifteen minutes which will not affect the outcome of the ham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remove the ham and then cut it into small dice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dried shrimp<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dried shrimp is relatively softer than dried scallops, so you only need to soak it for fifteen minutes. Steaming is not necessary. After soaking, drain the dried shrimp and then chop it into the size of rice grains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Deep-fry the ingredients to bring out the flavor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next step of preparing the XO sauce is to deep-fry the main ingredients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use about 600ml of vegetable oil, such as peanut oil. It seems a lot of oil, but it is necessary because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n