🍤 The Original Dad's XO Sauce (2024)

FAQs

Why is XO sauce so expensive? ›

Per The Spruce Eats, the ingredients that go into making XO sauce, along with the laborious process of making it which can take a couple of hours, are what really make the condiment so costly. The Woks of Life pointed out that the price is largely dependent upon the quality of the seafood used.

Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, XO sauce is made of roughly-chopped dried seafood, including dried scallops (conpoy), fish and shrimp, which are cooked with chilli peppers, onions and garlic. This dried seafood-based sauce resembles the Fujianese shacha sauce.

Chilli is another star of XO, although the sauce is not supposed to be unbearably spicy. Rather, the dried and fresh chillies should add a smokiness and zing, elevating the other ingredients, rather than overpowering them. “XO is primarily supposed to be aromatic, rather than in-your-face hot,” Frank says.

“XO” is actually a Hong Kong shorthand for high-quality, prestige, and luxury. Think about the price of fresh shrimp and scallops, and then think about taking all of that luscious seafood, drying it, and then making it into a jar of sauce.

A whole pile of good stuff, basically! Like dried scallops, dried shrimp and sometimes dried abalone, salty pork and aromatics of the garlic, shallots and chilli ilk. There's saltiness from soy, sweetness from sugar, the richness of shaoxing wine, and a deeply savoury edge from the dried seafood.

It's so flavor-packed that you really need just a few fresh ingredients to mix with the XO sauce. Now, what do you do with it? SO MANY THINGS. In Red Hot Kitchen, I have recipes for noodles, chicken stir-fries, steamed fish, veggies, a flatbread pizza, and more.

Make-Ahead and Storage. XO sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one month. For storing, make sure to keep the solids in the sauce submerged in the oil, so that they don't dry out.

It has a wonderfully chewy and slightly crunchy texture, chilli heat and oily unctuousness. XO is also aromatic with its melange of garlic, rice wine and different sauces. But it's the powerful umami kick that makes XO the emperor of condiments.

Pat Chun XO Sauce | MSG-free (130g)

Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Dried Scallops, Chinese Ham (Pork, Salt), Chilli Peppers, Dried Shrimps, Shallots, Oyster Sauce (Water, White Sugar, Salt, Oyster Extract (Oysters, Water, Salt), Modified Corn Starch, Colour (150a)), White Sugar, Dehydrated Garlic, Salt, Spices.

Who invented XO sauce? ›

XO sauce is a condiment that was created at one of Hong Kong's high-end dining establishments in the early 1980s. Legend has it, a cook at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon developed the sauce and named it after the pricy drink-of-the-moment, XO cognac.

XOX, or XOXO, means hugs and kisses, with the x representing kisses and the o representing hugs. It's usually used as a lighthearted way of expressing affection, sincerity, or deep friendship. Related words: cross mark emoji.

XO sauce is made from a variety of dried seafood (like and scallops and shrimp and stuff) mixed with chilis. It's got a seafoody flavor with heat and is chunky in texture.

The most decadent, the most exclusive, indeed, the most expensive hot sauce ever created, Swamp Dragon's 2nd Edition Private Reserve is here. 8 bottles, each individually numbered, are available to the public.

By far one of the tastiest XO sauces we have tried, packed with dried seafood and spices. Tip: Make sure this goes into the check-in luggage, as it won't be allowed on the plane.

XO sauce is full of flavor, mainly due to the concentrated taste of the dried seafood. It offers some spice along with the rich taste of umami and is an amalgamation of flavors, including sweet, smoky, and salty. This is a condiment that will dominate a dish with its intense taste.