Is there a risk of botulism with this sauce if not used within two weeks? I'm quite certain that I cannot use a quart of this in that time period....

... That would be about 1/4 cup per day. Can it be frozen if not used within two weeks? Other recipes that I've seen online say that the sauce can be used if refrigerated for at least several months

Mrs Beryl Patmore
  • 9028 views
  • 7 Comments
XO Sauce
Recipe question for: XO Sauce

7 Comments

Susan W. April 14, 2016
You can also freeze it. I just made grubstreet.com version (on the recommendation of HalfPint) and froze quite a bit. A quart is a huge amount. I use it in fairly small amounts, but I'm very new to it.

Botulism is extremely rare and all of the ingredients in xo sauce are cooked. Tossing raw garlic into olive oil would raise botulism worries, but I don't think xo sauce would concern me.
 
HalfPint April 16, 2016
Totally agree with @Susan W. Freeze in 1 cup portions. The recipes say that XO sauce lasts forever but I haven't found that to be the case. And don't worry about botulism, everything is cooked. You only ever have to worry when the food is raw.

BTW, @SusanW, how is the XO sauce?
 
Susan W. April 16, 2016
HalfPint, I love the stuff!! I have added it to a stir fry, used it in a glaze for salmon and stirred it into a bowl of rice topped with a friend egg. We have a little heat wave here, so today I'm going to make a ground beef, pork or chicken stir fry to use for lettuce wraps, Asian tacos or to top steamed rice that I'll cook today.

I have an eggplant in garlic sauce stir fry that I think would be delicious with xo sauce too.

What's your favorite way to use it?
 
HalfPint April 17, 2016
In a simple gal, a generous spoon with hot cooked rice is my fav ;)
 
HalfPint April 17, 2016
Ugh, autocorrect...meant I'm a simple gal.
 
Susan W. April 17, 2016
My favorite way so far is the rice topped with two over easy eggs and a little soy sauce. I think the simpler the better. It's too easy for the flavor to become hidden in dishes like the Asian lettuce wraps. I'm thinking it might make a fun addition to a rice paper summer roll with shrimp though.
 
AntoniaJames April 18, 2016
Jumping in here . . . I also have a constant supply on hand, as in, when I only have 1/4 cup left, I put it high on my priorities list to get the ingredients to make another batch (of the Grubstreet variety). I use it with Chinese fresh noodles into which I add some kind of protein -- ground pork stir fried with soy sauce, or duck confit + shrimp, or little bits of beef or pork stir fried with soy sauce, or leftover meat from chicken or turkey legs, etc., etc., etc. -- with julienned carrots, snow or snap peas and tiny broccoli florets for color. Everyone loves it! Also good stir fried into leftover Brown Rice Medley from Trader Joe's, with an egg scrambled in and whatever leftover veg is in the fridge, cut into appropriate sized bits.
I have been serving XO sauce in one dish or another at dinner at least twice a month since discovering the stuff, in addition to grab-and-growl lunches. When my son who lives in the Bay Area went down to visit my older son in L.A. recently, he absconded with every last bit of what I had on hand, and a package of frozen noodles, to take to my older son, good brother that he is! ;o)
 
Recommended by Food52