XO Sauce
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2½ cups
- 3ounces dried scallops (ideally dinner-size)
- 30dried red chiles, like Japones, Tien Tsin or cayenne, tough stems removed, roughly chopped
- 2small jalapeño or Fresno chiles, roughly chopped
- 2garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3ounces medium dried shrimp
- 2ounces bacon, minced
- 3tablespoons neutral oil, such as vegetable or canola
- 1tablespoon dark brown sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (5 servings)
154 calories; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 232 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Place the scallops in a steamer insert, and fit the insert into a small pot with about an inch of water beneath the bottom of the insert. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
- Step 2
Once the water boils, cover the pot, and steam over medium heat until the scallops are soft, 20 minutes or so. Transfer the scallops to a medium bowl, and save about ½ cup of the liquid remaining in the pot. When the scallops are cool to the touch, break them up with your fingers, and transfer to a food processor. Pulse until they have turned into fine threads. Scrape the shredded scallops back into the bowl.
- Step 3
Place the dried chiles, fresh chiles and garlic in the food processor, and pulse until the mixture forms a paste that sticks to the sides of the work bowl, scraping down the sides as needed. (This may take a few minutes.) Scrape the chile-garlic paste into the bowl with the shredded scallops.
- Step 4
Place the shallots, dried shrimp and bacon in the food processor, and pulse until minced.
- Step 5
Heat a large wok or skillet over medium-high. When it is very hot, add the oil, and swirl to coat the surface of the wok or skillet. Add the shallot mixture, and stir-fry until the mixture is very fragrant and beginning to crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar, and stir-fry again until the mixture starts to caramelize, 30 to 45 seconds.
- Step 6
Add the shredded scallop mixture and stir-fry for another 30 to 45 seconds, then add the reserved cooking water from the scallops. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 1 minute. Transfer to a lidded glass container, and let cool. Once mixture has cooled, cover, and refrigerate. Refrigerated, the XO sauce will keep up to 1 month.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Prakash Nadkarni
No, dried "shrimp" are actually krill - tiny crustaceans that feed on phytoplankton. They're the stuff that baleen whales eat. They're too tiny to be eat on their own (it's a pain to remove the heads and guts), so they're simply dehydrated, typically in the sun. Eating them, you take all the risks of sea food - mercury, etc. But they aren't farmed (yet), and there are some concerns about over-fishing from the wild. https://www.thedailybeast.com/can-krill-end-world-hunger
Elizabeth
Nope, move on. It would be an entirely different thing with substitutions:/
Diana Kuan
The bacon is raw when you put it in the food processor, but then you cook it in the wok / pan until crispy. Hope that helps!
Myra
My go-to substitute would be a woman who eats bacon.
perlious
I think subbing the dried scallops and shrimp and bacon with reconstituted dried shitake mushrooms and a dollop of yellow miso might create a different, but compelling sauce,
Jo
'shrimpicity' <3
Cat
Anthony Bourdain once said that if a recipe or technique is something that both the Italians and the Chinese do, then it’s bound to be a good idea. Truer words never spoken! Thanks for making that connection between the XO sauce and the eggplant agrodolce. Good eye.
Ron Nemirow
I bought the ingredients and followed the instructions. I used small dried shrimp and pulsed it in the food processor until “minced”. Next time, I’ll pulse it more because some of the shrimp maintained their shrimpicity. Tastes pretty good. Pretty fun to make. Amazingly, didn’t stink up the house. I did keep the exhaust fan on. As earlier commentator noted, not a sauce so much as a condiment or paste.
Eric Berman
This is a “keeper” if only as a starting point for one’s own creations. One of the other “great cuisines” that uses flavors like this is the ancient Venetian cooking with raisins, sugar, citrus peel, anchovies, capers, balsamic vinegar and eggplant, all to set off a umami explosion on the tongue. See the NYTimes “Sweet and Sour Eggplant Loaf” recipe https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7525-sweet-and-sour-venetian-eggplant
Ellen B
No idea if it’s a match for this recipe, but if you are looking for a marvelous ingredient to boost umami in vegan recipes, get your hands on some Korean black garlic. It is to fresh garlic what raisins are to grapes. Dense flavor. Often sold as a health supplement, but it’s just great food. Makes everything better!
JS
I make this once a year and freeze it. It lasts great!
Prakash Nadkarni
XO "sauce" is a misnomer. It's simply a versatile, highly savory and spicy condiment. Read the Wikipedia article for a brief history. David Chang's "Momofuku cookbook" (which might be in your public library) has a good recipe - there's no hard-and-fast rules about what goes into it, as long as the end-result tastes good - make do with what you can get conveniently (and what you like/tolerate).
mfm
Maybe not expensive, but so specialized in its ingredients and directions I decided to bypass.
Ron Nemirow
Addendum: I’ve apparently built up a tolerance. My daughter just walked in and started coughing like crazy.
Beto
I've found XO sauce in Asian grocery stores. The more expensive sauces contain (or at least they say they do) abalone. I've never seen anything that is in a standard American grocery store that remote comes close to true XO sauce.
Kathy Runchey
What do you use XO sauce for and how do you use it.
John P
I didn't have the dried seafood, but I really wanted to make this for some eggplant, so I used canned smoked oysters, chopped fine. Tasted delicious.
Lynn in Austin
Do you wash or wipe out the processor bowl between uses?
Avis
Try prosciutto or pancetta instead of bacon, it will give it a great flavour without overpowering the shrimp and dried scallop with bacon smokiness.
Peter
Would not suggest substituting fresh seafood for dried. I haven't made this dish, but having grown up with dishes flavored with the dried versions, fresh scallops and shrimp would completely alter the taste.
Walter
It's plenty spicy and savory but the consistency came out more crumbly than sauce. I'm considering pouring it into a tall glass with another tablespoon or so of oil and taking an emersion blender to it. So far, I'm not calling this a repeater.
Far and Sure
Where do you get dried scallops?
Vernonstwhiz
Dried scallops and shrimp can be found in Asian markets and Herbal shops. The traditional sauce is oily so if yours turns out dry you might want to add some oil. This is a sauce that is more expensive to make than other sauces but it's worth it. It can be used in many different dishes, and is a big favorite of mine. I have a question about the bacon? Does the recipe call for American style or Chinese style? There is a difference in flavor.
Sakemelly
Where do you get dried scallops and dried shrimp?
Karyn
Asian markets will have them
Meg D
What did I do wrong? It is not a sauce, it's totally dry!
Sueiseman
Dried scallops?
Kat
It's delicious, and the core of this recipe :)
rmf
Like most commenters, this was not what I expected -- but still very good. Turns out the dried shrimp I'd ordered on Amazon were "not for human consumption," so after some panicked Googling I substituted about 8 anchovy fillets and maybe a teaspoon of fish sauce. The "sauce" (more akin to the little pots of pepper puree you find on each table in Asian restaurants) was tasty, but even better with a good hit of lime juice. Served with simplest roast chicken and roasted broccoli.
cedarcroft
Are there differences in the small dried Chinese red peppers? At my Asian grocery I bought a bag that proclaimed them "hottest" although I saw no others and these were the same as I usually use. Even at the time I couldn't imagine what 30 (!) of them would taste like. I figured there must be some magic that happened. No. Although I really enjoy spicy food, this was inedible! Blew the top of my head off! Surprised that I haven't seen more comments along this line. Different peppers?
Ferguson
I used dried Japones chiles from a Mexican grocery store; they were what I had in the cupboard already. I still started light with the application and then brought the XO to the table so we could add more if we liked.
Michelle
I use the smokey korean pepper flakes - it is a good substitute.
Diana Kuan
The tiniest dried peppers (1 inch long) are most likely bird's eye chilies. The chilis in the recipe (Japones, Tien Tsin or cayenne) are a little bigger, about 2 to 3 inches long. They will most likely just be labeled "dried red chilis" in Chinese markets, so just go by size. Hope that helps!
Ferguson
I made this and served it over oiled rice noodles with the tail end of the Easter roast lamb and some peas. I doubt I will be able to use the whole jar in a month and I am not sure I would make this again but I am glad I tried it.
Wesley Burditt
Freeze
Shelina
I made this sauce exactly as per the instructions except for substituting Shaoxing wine for the water. Next time I would remove seeds from the dry chiles. Fabulous recipe!
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