XO Sauce is the quintessential Hong Kong condiment. Born in the 1980s, during Hong Kong's economic boom, it was originally developed as a high-end pre-dinner snack.

It is a dried seafood based condiment that is umami, spicy, sweet, salty, and pungent all at the same time. A full experience for the taste buds.

Some sources attribute its creation to famous Peninsula Hotel chef, while some others claim that it was invented by celebrity chef 黃永幟, also known as 幟哥.

Why is it called sauce?

Wikipedia defines sauce as:

In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish.

However XO sauce is mostly solid, chunky, and can definitely be eaten by itself as a snack, so why sauce?

The reason comes from the translation of the chinese character 醬. It is normally translated as sauce, but a more accurate translation would be "any jam-like or paste-like food". Peanut butter? Yes, it is written with 醬. Mayonnaise? Strawberry jam? Shrimp paste? Yes, all of those are considered 醬.

That's why its called sauce. However I think condiment or paste would have been a better translation.

Why is it called XO?

At the time, Hong Kong was importing the best liquors from around the world. Among locals, Cognac became the drink of distinction for the rich, and the most expensive cognacs, aged for at least six years in oak, were labeled XO, extra old.

The condiment, composed of very expensive ingredients such as dried scallops, Jinhua ham, dried shrimps, or shrimp roe, deserved the same luxurious distinction, and from there the name, XO sauce.

Nowadays, due to its high price, it is rare to find restaurants in Hong Kong serving XO sauce as a snack. It is used as seasoning for rice and other dishes though.

With the advent of the food industry, it is possible to find in the supermarket XO sauces of different price ranges. However, small batch artisan XO sauce remains a very expensive and luxurious item, ideal for gifts.

Making XO Sauce at home

Today we are making a unique version of XO sauce with some variation in the main ingredients. Beware, it is not going to be a cheap endeavour!

The resulting XO sauce will be quite complex: it will be spicy, salty, sweet and frangant all at the same time 🤯.

Ingredients

Dried Scallops, 150g
Safflower oil, 100ml
Garlic, 50g
Shallots, 50g
Fresh chilli, 30g
Dried chilli, 5 pieces
Dried Mantis Shrimp, 瀨尿蝦乾 30g
Iberico Ham Cubes 100g
Shrimp Roe 20g
Oil for frying the scallops, as needed.

Notes

High quality dried scallops are a very expensive item. Don’t buy the smallest size, because they are rubbery and have a proportionally big tendon. Also skip the biggest ones, since we are going to shred it anyway. For the same reason, no need to buy the perfectly shaped ones, those are sold as gifts for family and friend and carry a higher price.

Replacing shrimp for mantis shrimp brings an extra boost of umami flavour to the sauce.

Iberico ham has no rival, the meat near the bone, normally sold in Spain in little cubes has so much concentrated flavour. The best XO sauce cannot have any other ham in it.

Safflower oil has a very high smoking point, so it is perfect for frying. The neutral aroma helps to highlight the flavour of the seafood ingredients.

We use a blend of dry and fresh chilli. Feel free to use your own combination. It is not recommended though to use very strong chilli, otherwise it will overpower the rest of ingredients.

Preparation

Soak the dried scallops in water and let them rest in the refrigerator overnight. Reserve 200ml of the soaking water. Next day, steam the scallops for 20 minutes.
Repeat the same process for the dried mantis shrimp, shortening the steaming time to 5-10 minutes
Shred the scallops by hand and dry them well.
Fry the scallops in oil at 160C until golden and drain.
Finely chop all other ingredients.
Heat the safflower oil in a wok and slowly stir-fry the garlic, shallots and chillies. Keep moving them to avoid burning.
Add the dried mantis shrimp, and stir-fry for a minute.
Add the ham, shrimp egg, dried scallops, and the reserved soaked water from the scallops and mantis shrimps, and slowly bring them together to a boil
Gently simmer until the juice is gone, removing as much water as possible.
Store the XO sauce in a sterilized sealed container, adding extra oil if necessary to submerge the sauce solids.

The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for a few months. After a couple of weeks of storage the flavours will blend together and the sauce will improve. The spiciness will be more prominent too.

Remember to take it out of the fridge before consumption to enjoy the sauce at room temperature.

Serving Suggestion

If you want to enjoy all the complexity of XO sauce in it's purest form, just wrap a tablespoon of XO sauce in a sheet of freshly toasted Nori seaweed. I challenge you to eat only one!!