XO sauce

(Redirected from X.O. sauce)

XO sauce is a modern special spicy seafood sauce with origins in Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine. It is made of dried seafood (such as scallops, fish and shrimp) mixed with and chiles, onion, garlic and oil. Once the special concoction of fancy seafood restaurants, it can now be found on store shelves, produced by prominent Asian food companies such as Lee Kum Kee or Amoy.

The name comes from fine XO brandies, which are popular in Hong Kong, and has been marketed in the same manner as fine liquor using similar packaging and color schemes.

Typical ingredients of the sauce include:

diced onion
dried scallops (conpoy)
fresh red chilies
ground black pepper
Jinhua or western ham
large dried shrimp, shelled
minced garlic
oil
salted cured fish
tiny dried shrimp, unshelled