Premium XO sauce without ham – taste, use and photo

I have heard so much about Premium XO sauce for Chinese cooking but I have never buy it or taste it in cooking. This morning, while I was browsing around Tesco pork section, I saw the Lee Kum Kee XO sauce selling for RM18.88. There is a label that says, “No ham”. I was like, huh? No what? I do not know what XO sauce is. But I buy it anyway because I saw it being sold at the traditional Cantonese dried seafoods and waxed ducks shop. If that old man sells it in his shop at Kwong Tuck, then, it must be good.

Then, I got home and Google a bit about Chinese premium XO sauce and found that in other countries the Lee Kum Kee’s XO sauce has ham in it. Now, I know what the ‘No Ham’ label means.

Guess what is the taste of the XO sauce? It is like a super expensive sambal hairbee in chili oil. The bottle is really tiny and I think it there must be only 10 tablespoons in there. The XO sauce is made of dried scallops (con poy) and dried shrimps. Doh…where’s the XO as in extra old cognac and where’s my ham!

So, if you are tight on the budget, don’t bother to invest in a bottle. It is not likely to make your cooking any much nicer. I used a bit in my fried rice this afternoon. I seasoned some chicken with it and then, fry my rice with a bit of bacon bits, garlic and eggs.

Next, I use it to marinate some spare ribs. My eldest son, the chef-wannabe tried the sauce from he bottle and he told me, “Chey…just like the dried shrimps in oil that you bought.” *kicks self* I spent RM18.88 to learn that.

Oh ya, avoid ordering any dish with XO sauce because it is going to cost you a lot since the sauce alone is so expensive.