Text 7670, 98 rader
Skriven 2013-12-08 06:41:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HAFFLY
Ärende: XB, XO 556
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 ML> No idea. We were stuck for a place for lunch before a
 ML> gig; it wasn't anyplace we had been before or had planned
 ML> in advance.
 RH> So you knew better not to suggest it if anybody wanted a meal there
 RH> before they went belly up. Once burned,..........................

To give it credit, it was out in noplaceland, where only
the desperate would stop, so there was little incentive
to produce excellence, or even edible food. I don't
recall the details of everyone else's food, but my roast
beef tasted like putrefied potroast; worse, the stuff you
would pick out of your teeth after eating that. The next
time I went past, some years later, there was no trace of
the restaurant.

 RH> The way I fugured, if Steve couldn't eat it, it was too hot. Then too,
 RH> you may have a higher heat tolerance than he does.
 ML> I have a higher heat enjoyment than most; tolerance I don't
 ML> know about, though I suspect it to be relatively high.
 RH> I don't know if you would have enjoyed those sloppy joes or not. We
 RH> figured it wasn't a waste of money to pitch them if nobody could eat
 RH> them.

For the rest of you mere mortals, dilution would be the key.

 ML> XO Sauce
 RH> Is there any particular dish this goes with or is it a multi purpose
 RH> sauce like the standard white sauce (or cream of soup) in American
 RH> cooking?

It's a source of concentrated umami - you might dip bits that
needed a little kick into it; another use would be to pile
onto delicate food, such as vegetables, or bland food, such
as noodles. Or it could be the main ingredient in fried rice
(conpoy fried rice uses shredded dried scallops as the main
flavoring, but a premade XO sauce would provide much the same
effect).

By the way, XO stands for extra old, a designation used for
some of the finest Cognacs and other brandies. During one of
the waves of Asian fashion that favored Western things
(actually more an idolatry of Western things), someone or
other became familiar with Hennessy and Courvoisier XO as
the pinnacle of European culture and bestowed the designation
on this sauce as the pinnacle of the Asian, which it might
well be. I've been known to eat a cup of it with my dim sum,
which pretty well eats up the profits of the restaurant. What
I do let them know beforehand is that if they gave me a
similar amount of roasted chile oil, they could satisfy me
just as well for 1% of the price.

XO Sauce
cat: Chinese, condiment, shellfish, pork, celebrity
yield: 1 large batch, maybe 5 c

1/2 c dried shrimp
1/2 c dried scallops
1/2 c coarsely chopped Chinese bacon, country ham, or proscuitto
1/2 c coarsely chopped Chinese sausage
1 1/2 c canola oil
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 c crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 c thinly sliced garlic
1/4 c finely chopped fresh peeled ginger
3 star anise
1/2 stick cinnamon
1/4 c soy sauce
Coarse salt

Place dried shrimp in a medium bowl; add enough water to
cover by 1". Repeat process with scallops; let stand overnight.

Drain dried shrimp and scallops; discard liquid (M says save
to enrich a soup) and coarsely chop each. Transfer shrimp to
the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Set
aside. Repeat process with scallops, bacon, and sausage; set
each aside.

Heat 1 c canola oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over
medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until soft
and translucent, about 30 sec. Add crushed red pepper flakes
and cook 1 min more. Add garlic, ginger, star anise, and
cinnamon; stir to combine.

Increase heat to high; season with salt and add soy sauce.
Add sausage, bacon, shrimp, and scallops, stirring after
each addition.

Add remaining 1/2 c oil; reduce heat to low and simmer until
oil is infused, about 30 min, stirring every 5 min. Remove
from heat and let cool before transferring to an airtight
container. XO sauce may be kept refrigerated, up to 1 month.

Danny Bowien, Mission Chinese

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