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Homemade XO Sauce Recipe + Pipis and Vermicelli in XO Sauce

This XO sauce is nothing like the grainy versions you’d see on the supermarket shelves or in restaurants. This XO sauce is truly the emperor of all sauces, with chunky bites of dried scallop, and a smoky, decadent, complex flavour; it has been perfectly crafted to spoil dearest family and friends.
Prep Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Course Main Course, Party Food
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

XO Sauce

  • 160 g dried scallops
  • 200 g dried shrimp
  • 100 g proscuitto
  • 6 shallots (or 2 onions)
  • 1 garlic bulb, peeled
  • 50 g dried chilli
  • 5 birds eye chillis
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 4 cups vegetable oil

Pipis Stir Fry

  • 250 g Chang's Rice Noodle Vermicelli
  • 1 tbsp peanut oil
  • 1 kg pipis
  • 1 - 2 tbsp tablespoons of homemade XO sauce (see above)
  • 1 tbsp Chang's Oyster Sauce
  • 1 tsp Chang's Oyster Sauce (optional)
  • 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with ½ cup cold water

Garnish

  • Spring onion

Instructions
 

To make the XO sauce

  • In separate bowls, soak the dried scallops and dried shrimp in boiling water for at least one hour. Drain and allow to cool, then roughly shred the scallops with your fingers and set aside.
  • In a food processor, roughly chop the dried shrimp and set aside.
  • Then blend the garlic and shallots and set aside, followed by the chillies, salt and prosciutto.
  • Heat the oil in a pan and add all the chopped ingredients. Simmer on a low heat for 20 - 40 minutes until the sauce darkens and becomes aromatic.
  • Transfer to sterilised jars, ensuring there is enough oil to cover the top. This recipe makes 1.35kg of sauce, about 4 medium sized jars. Keep refrigerated for several months.

Stir-frying the pipis

  • To prepare the pipis in XO sauce with vermicelli, firstly check with the fishmonger that the pipis have been cleaned as there's nothing worse that biting into sandy grit.
  • Chang's Rice Noodle Vermicelli cooks in just two minutes in noodle soups, or ten minutes in salads and stir-fries. Simply place the required noodle portions in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand for ten minutes. Strain, and transfer to a frying pan or wok with half the peanut oil, cook for 2 - 5 minutes on each side until crisp. Place the fried vermicelli on the serving plate.
  • In the same pan, heat up the remaining peanut oil, and add the pipis, XO sauce and oyster sauce. Stir for 2 - 3 minutes until the pipis open. Make a slurry with the cornflour and water and whisk into the simmering pan to thicken the liquid into a gravy.
  • To serve, pour the pipis and sauce over the fried vermicelli and garnish with sliced spring onion.