Home-Made XO Sauce

SQ and I made some home-made XO sauce this past weekend. The XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce primarily used in Cantonese cooking. Contrary to what people might think, this sauce does NOT contain the XO liquor. XO stands for "Extra Old," which is derived from the XO liquor, as it is well known for its prestige and exclusivity. The sauce is considered to be a chic, prestigous and luxurious product, similar to the XO liquor, due to the expensive ingredients used to make the sauce.

Some Asian companies make pre-made XO sauce that are sold in Asian supermarkets. They range in prices, but the Lee Kum Kee probably has the most expensive ones. $9 for a very small jar and close to $20 for a medium sized jar. We wanted to make our own instead - and it turned out really well!! Below are the basic steps and the main ingredients. I didn't include any portions on the ingredients because it's really up to YOU how you like it. There is no strict rules whatsoever. That's the beauty of home-made sauces!

Ingredients:

• Dried scallops, soaked in water for 45 minutes and then steam until soft
• Dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
• Shallots, chopped/sliced
• Garlic, chopped
• Jin Hua Cured Ham, steamed into soft and then chopped
• Dried Chili, chopped
• Oil

Directions:

Steam the cured ham and scallop until soft. Soak dried shrimp in water until soft. Chop up shallots, garlic and dried chili.

Once the dried scallops, dried shrimps, and cured ham are soft, roughly chop them up.

On a pan, add oil, sautee the garlic, shallot and dried chili first. After they absorb most of the oil, add in the cured ham, dried shrimp and dried scallops. Add in more oil (don't be stingy)...

Pan-fry all the ingredients in high heat until they turn brown. Wait until the mixture is cool, then transfer into a jar for future use. Store in refrigerator. Again, don't be stingy on the oil, add excessively. The oil also acts as a preservative for the ingredients.

Here are some snow peas cooked with the home-made XO sauce! Yum Yum! Believe me, it's convenient to have the XO sauce in the fridge. It really comes in handy!