Homemade XO Sauce

Overview

XO sauce is a very common homemade high-end seasoning in Cantonese cuisine. It is characterized by bright red color, strong salty taste, mellow and slightly spicy taste. XO Sauce is versatile and is especially suitable for cooking soft ingredients and quick stir-fries. Whether it's seafood, meat, or vegetables with a soft texture, you can always get unexpected flavors when paired with XO sauce. Even simple mung bean sprouts with oil and salt, cooked with a spoonful of XO sauce, will greatly enhance its quality. Making XO sauce requires the use of some expensive materials, but there are no certain standards. It is said that each restaurant makes XO sauce differently, and the recipe is a trade secret of each restaurant. When you make it at home, you don’t have to pursue extreme precision and perfection, and you don’t have to use many expensive ingredients. Simple dried shrimps and scallops (dried scallops), paired with some pickled mustard, onions, garlic and peppers, and a hundred times more patience and effort, stir-fried slowly, can still produce a wonderful taste. The fried XO sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for a long time. When it’s time to use it, take it out, throw in a spoonful of it for any dish, and you’ll have delicious food at your fingertips. It can be called a must-have artifact for cooking——

Tags

• homemade ingredients
• clear water
• cooking wine
• dried scallops (scallops)
• edible oil
• haimi
• light soy sauce
• millet pepper
• mustard shreds
• onion and ginger
• oyster sauce
• white sugar
• garlic
• purple onion
• white onion

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Wash the scallops, add 1 tsp of cooking wine and a few slices of green onion and ginger, then add an appropriate amount of water (to cover the scallops), steam in a steamer over high heat for 30 minutes, let cool and set aside;

   

2. 2 Take out the scallops and tear them into shreds by hand;

   

3. 3 Soak the sea rice in warm water until soft, wash it, remove and drain the water and set aside; if the sea rice is large, break it into pieces; if it is small, use the whole sea rice;

   

4. 4 Cut the mustard into shreds and soak in cold water for 15 minutes. You can change the water 1 or 2 times in the middle to remove some of the saltiness. Drain and squeeze out the water for later use;

   

5. 5 Cut the onion into thin strips, slice the garlic, and cut the millet and pepper into rings, set aside;

   

6. 6 Pour oil into the pot and heat it until it is 50% or 60% hot. Add the dried beets and stir-fry over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Remove the dried beets and leave the oil in the pot;

   

7. 7 Add mustard shreds and fry over medium heat until dry. Remove the mustard shreds and leave oil in the pot;

   

8. 8 Add sea rice and stir-fry until fragrant;

   

9. 9 Add the shredded onions, turn down the heat, and slowly sauté until the onions are golden and crispy, about 20 to 30 minutes. The heat must be low, otherwise the onions will burn;

   

10. 10 Place the onions around the bottom of the pot, add garlic slices into the oil in the middle, and stir-fry until fragrant;

    

11. 11 Add the fried dried beets and mustard shreds, stir-fry evenly;

    

12. 12 Add 1 tablespoon oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon light soy sauce;

    

13. 13 Add another 1 tablespoon of sugar and continue to stir-fry;

    

14. 14 Keep frying until the various ingredients become dry and "cook" in the oil;

    

15. 15 Finally add millet pepper, stir-fry evenly, and turn off the heat;

    

16. 16 Put it in a crisper box, cool it to room temperature, seal it and store it in the refrigerator. It is best to keep it fresh if it has "0" degree.