XO Sauce substitute

Substitutes for XO Sauce with ratios

1. 2Homemade quick XO: dried shrimp fried in oil with garlic and chilli

   Close match

   Use 1 tbsp chopped dried shrimp + 1 clove garlic + 1 tbsp oil + ½ tsp chilli flakes, for every 2 tbsp XO

   Twenty minutes of work that gets genuinely close, and the honest answer if XO is the point of the dish.

   What changes

   Best for

   fried rice, noodles, steamed vegetables, tofu, clams

   Soak and chop the shrimp, fry them gently in the oil with minced garlic and shallot until everything is deep golden, then stir in chilli. Add finely diced cured ham or a little chopped Chinese sausage if you have it. Missing the dried scallop, so it is less sweet and less complex than real XO, but it is recognisably the same idea.

2. 3Shiitake XO for a vegetarian version

   Different taste

   Use 1 tbsp finely chopped rehydrated dried shiitake + fried garlic and shallot in 1 tbsp oil + chilli, for every 2 tbsp XO

   The seafood-free version, and good enough to make on purpose.

   What changes

   Best for

   vegetarian fried rice, noodles, tofu, stir-fried greens, eggs

   Mushrooms give a deep savoury base and the fried garlic and shallot give the aroma, so the structure of the condiment survives. It tastes earthier and sweeter and lacks the marine, slightly briny top note that dried scallop and shrimp provide. A splash of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar sharpen it up.

3. 4Oyster sauce plus chilli oil

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tsp chilli oil, for every 2 tbsp XO

   The fast fix when XO was going into a sauce rather than onto a finished dish.

   What changes

   Best for

   stir-fries, noodle sauces, braises, marinades

   The savoury direction is right and the chilli oil covers the heat and aroma, but this is smooth, sweet and wet where XO is chunky, dry and complex, and it adds liquid to the pan. Use it where the sauce is stirred through and never where XO would have been spooned over the top, because there is nothing to bite into.

4. 5Doubanjiang (fermented broad bean chilli paste)

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tbsp for every 2 tbsp XO, and cut the recipe's salt or soy

   The pantry chilli paste most likely to be in the cupboard, going in a different direction on purpose.

   What changes

   Best for

   stir-fry bases, braises, noodles, mapo-style dishes

   Much saltier and funkier, with fermented bean flavour instead of dried seafood, and no seafood sweetness at all. It works as a stir-fry base and it makes a good dish, but a doubanjiang fried rice is a Sichuan-tasting fried rice rather than an XO one. Fry it in oil for thirty seconds before adding anything else.

5. 6Shrimp paste or fish sauce plus chilli oil

   Taste and texture differ

   Use ½ tsp shrimp paste or 1 tsp fish sauce + 1 tsp chilli oil, for every 2 tbsp XO

   An emergency correction rather than a substitute.

   What changes

   Best for

   stir-fries, noodles, fried rice, greens

   This gets you the marine savoury hit and the chilli, and nothing else: no texture, no sweetness, no fried aromatics. Both are aggressive, so start with half the amount and taste. Shrimp paste must be fried in oil first or it tastes raw and harsh.