Whoever invented XO sauce is trolling everyone. What is XO sauce anyway? Apparently, it’s called XO after the premium “XO” cognac, of which not a single drop is used in this sauce. And it’s not really a sauce. It’s a relish with all these chunky bits of goodness in it. Anyway, now that we’ve got that out of the way, it is an absolutely amazing accompaniment to all things seafood, of which prawns is a very good choice. The recipe below makes enough XO sauce for a typical pint jar (500mL or 16oz) and I used about half of it in this recipe. You can keep the leftover sauce in the fridge for a couple of weeks although it never has a chance to last that long in our house! Theremomix adaptation is also included below for the sauce.
We were having some guests over and we wanted to give them a little bit of a treat. They’re always cooking and inviting people over to their place so it felt nice to spoil them a little bit with something that they may not necessarily make. So I quickly called my mother-in-law if I could grab some of her finger limes off her plant because they would make the perfect addition to this. Finger limes are native to Australia and they taste more sweet and floral than normal limes. If you don’t have any on hand, you could just scatter some ordinary lime pulp on top. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Serves 4-6 as a side (approx. 85 calories per prawn)
Prep time 1.5 hours
Cook time 30 minutes
Ingredients
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
2cm piece ginger, minced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp dried prawn powder (or ground up prawns)
40g bacon, thinly chopped
60g olive oil
50g butter
2 tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
1 tsp smoked paprika
50g honey
20g light soy sauce
20g lime juice
10-12 jumbo prawns (shell-on), trimmed and butterflied
4-6 finger limes, pulp only
Extra olive oil for pan-frying or barbecuing
Make the XO sauce first and let it sit and deepen its flavour for at least an hour (preferably overnight). As I said before, this makes enough to fit in a typical pint jar (approx. 500mL or 16oz) and I used about half of this sauce for this recipe.
In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil and butter until melted. Then add the garlic, onion, ginger, red chilli, prawn powder and bacon and sautee for approximately 5 minutes until it has softened and has become fragrant.
Add the gochugaru, smoked paprika, honey, light soy sauce and lime juice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Take off the heat, cool and store in a jar for at least an hour before using.
Prepare your prawns by trimming and butterflying them. I use the scissors to cut off the legs and trim the antennas. Then I cut all along the underside making sure not to cut right through the shell. Devein it and flatten it on a tray. I place a heavy plate on top of the flattened prawns to keep it from curling back up until ready to pan fry or barbecue. There is a handy video by Marine Stewardship Council here.
Heat a pan with some olive oil and place the butterflied prawn flesh-side down and cook for approximately 2 minutes before flipping onto its back (shell-side) and cooking for a further 1-2 minutes. Press it down as it’s being cooked to keep it as flat as possible. My husband likes to use a blow torch to give it an extra char.
Meanwhile, warm up your XO sauce in a saucepan. Arrange the cooked prawns on a serving tray with flesh side up. Spoon some warmed XO sauce on top and garnish with some finger lime pulp. Serve immediately.
Thermomix Adaptation (Sauce Only)
Ingredients
6 garlic cloves
1 onion, quartered
2cm piece ginger
1 red chilli, sliced
2 tsp dried prawn powder (or ground up prawns)
40g bacon, sliced
60g olive oil
50g butter
2 tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
1 tsp smoked paprika
50g honey
20g light soy sauce
20g lime juice
Place garlic, onion, ginger, red chilli, dried shrimp and bacon into mixing bowl. Chop 6 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl with spatula.
Add olive oil and butter and cook 5 min/120°C/speed 1.
Add gochugaru, smoked paprika, honey, light soy sauce and lime juice. Mix 5 sec/speed 3. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl and repeat if necessary. Transfer to a jar and let it sit for at least an hour before bringing up to desired temperature before using.
More Seafood Recipes
Thai Prawn Glass Noodles
Steamed Black Pepper Crab
Singapore Style Chilli Swimmer Crabs
Cambodian Stir-Fried Clams (Cha Leah)
Seafood Boil with Creole Seasoning
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