pictonguy
Executive Chef
Well, I've been jonesing chicken biriyani for a while and it's been a while, so made that and glad I did. 
Last edited:
Dinner Sunday 7th December
- Thread starter In A Pickle
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
pictonguy
Executive Chef
The only XO I know is Hennessy XO.
OP
OP
In A Pickle
Sous Chef
Just realised I bought XO and still haven’t used it, thanks for the reminder
Looks very tasty Wiz! But I must admit the cut looks very like a turtle face with a huge tongue hanging out. 
It looks delicious. What is "an XO Spinach Salad"?
Shining Wizard
Head Chef
It’s spinach tossed through an XO sauce with cherry tomatoes and Spanish onion, with a little drizzle of EVOO. Very simple.
OK... let's try again. I think the question was more in the line of "what does the XO stand for?"
Shining Wizard
Head Chef
XO sauce is a mixture of dried shrimp, scallops, chilli, garlic, brown sugar and anise.
It’s origins are from Hong Kong, and due to its very prestigious ingredients and preparation, it was named XO to make it relatable to XO Cognac, a premium product.
You can buy it in stores quite easily, but it will probably contain some lesser quality versions of some ingredients. For example, dried scallops are very expensive and the best XO sauces are usually made by highly experienced chefs and normally from closely guarded traditional recipes.
I have made my own a number of times, but I spent so much time and money putting it all together that it was just ridiculous.
Loading…
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com
It’s origins are from Hong Kong, and due to its very prestigious ingredients and preparation, it was named XO to make it relatable to XO Cognac, a premium product.
You can buy it in stores quite easily, but it will probably contain some lesser quality versions of some ingredients. For example, dried scallops are very expensive and the best XO sauces are usually made by highly experienced chefs and normally from closely guarded traditional recipes.
I have made my own a number of times, but I spent so much time and money putting it all together that it was just ridiculous.
Last edited:
I had to look up XO sauce. I never heard of it before. Do you make it yourself or buy it?
Shining Wizard
Head Chef
^ see above
I looked up the XO sauce and apparently the name is related to Hennessy, because Hennessy XO was considered top notch and quite the fad in Hong Kong when the sauce became popular.The only XO I know is Hennessy XO.
pictonguy
Executive Chef
So everyday Cantonese staple ingredients to make a condiment and then they branded it XO, because? ok, if they say so. Interesting.
Both Woks of Life and Serious Eats have recipes and interesting reads (to me).
Thannks Wiz for a new learning experience!
Thannks Wiz for a new learning experience!
Kathleen
Cupcake
Do you have a recipe to share? I've wanted a good TNT seafood stew for Christmas Eve.
Why coitenly.
Here's the print out you can C&P
Cioppino (Brian Langerstrom)
▪125g or ½ white onion, small diced
▪75g or ½ medium bulb fennel, small diced
▪4-5 garlic cloves, minced
▪Olive oil
▪Salt
▪1lb/.5kg shell-on raw wild shrimp, shells removed and reserved for stock
▪1box/900-1000g(mL) chicken stock
▪1 bottle/240g(mL) clam juice
▪Chile flake
▪200g or ¾-1c dry white wine
▪800g/28oz nice whole peeled canned tomatoes, pureed
▪1lb/.5kg mussels, rinsed, beards removed (any broken/open mussels discarded)
▪1lb/.5kg fresh atlantic cod, cut into 1”/2.5cm chunks and salted before cooking
▪.5lb/225g squid tubes and tentacles, sliced
▪Pinch sugar
▪Black pepper, chopped parsley, additional olive oil, to garnish
▪Plenty of good crusty bread for dipping
Method
Into a medium sauce pot, add the shells from 1lb shrimp, stock, and clam juice. Bring to a simmer and continue simmer over medium low for about 15min.
Heat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium. Add very generous squeeze of olive oil (it should almost coat the bottom of your pot. To that, add onion, fennel, and garlic and a large pinch of salt. Stir and sweat over medium for 4-5min.
Add pinch of chili flake to veg. Allow chili flake to cook and infuse the oil for about a minute, then add in wine. Bring wine and veg to a simmer and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes or until wine is mostly evaporated.
Add in all of the strained liquid from your shrimp-clam stock (discard shrimp shells). You should be adding about 1200g/mL here. If you don’t have enough, add additional chicken stock or water. Stir in pureed tomatoes. Increase heat to medium high, bring to a boil. Continue to simmer and reduce for approx 15min by about 15-20%.
Taste base for seasoning. Add salt and pinch of sugar if needed to balance acidity.
Reduce heat to low then drop in cod, shrimp, and squid. Gently move with a spoon to ensure everything is spread evenly and submerged before adding in mussels and snuggling them into the base to submerge. Bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to poach for 3-4 mins.
Very gently stir the seafood. Continue to cook if mussels aren’t yet fully open. When mussels are fully opened and the rest of the fish is opaque, it’s done! Discard any mussels that didn’t open during cooking.
Ladle into a bowl, garnish with black pepper, olive oil, and minced parsley, and enjoy with crusty bread.
*** I used Knorr's fish bullion cubes instead of chicken stock. I ordered them off Amazon (from the UK no less) for something else and wanted to try them.
I also added some cherrystone clams. I put those in first and gave them five minutes or so before adding anything else. I'm sure you'll have better access to seafood than I did and can get the smaller littleneck. Or better yet crab claws
And my cod fell apart, even though I cubed it big and salted it like his video showed. Which made actually getting a piece extra special, lol.
He's got a relatively short video on YT for reference.
ETA: Let me put his video link here. Because that's where the recipe was located.
Last edited:
Good thing I read grams as I missed the tiny dot in front of the 5 lbs of squid! My eyes sort of popped!
Kathleen
Cupcake
Oh, that sounds SO good. I'm going to have to give it a try!!! It would be perfect for Christmas eve around here!
