Clams in XO sauce

The classic combination of clams with XO sauce gets a black truffle upgrade.

• serves

  2

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 500 g clams, blanched until shells just open
• 1 long red chilli, sliced
• 1 spring onion, sliced on an angle
• 5 g shaved black truffle (optional)

XO chilli sauce

• 50 g dried squid
• 50 g dried anchovy  
• 50 g dried shrimp
• 50 g dried scallops (soaked in water overnight and drained)
• 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable oil
• 100 g garlic, finely chopped
• 250 ml (1 cup) oyster sauce 
• 40 g sugar
• 25 g fresh birds eye chilli 
• 50 ml chilli oil
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes
• 100 g fried red Asian shallots

Simmering time: 1 hour

Instructions

For the XO chilli sauce, preheat a char-grill or grill plate to medium-high. Grill the dried squid until crisp. Scrape off any charred parts with a sharp knife.

In a food processor, blitz the squid, anchovy, scallops and shrimp until finely chopped.

Heat a wok or over medium-high heat. Add oil and garlic and cook just until golden. Add the seafood mixture, oyster sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes and skimming all the impurities off the top. To finish, add the bird's eye chilli, chilli oil, chilli flakes and fried shallots and stir again. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place a wok over high heat. Add the oil and garlic and stir for 10 seconds or until fragrant. Add 80 ml (⅓ cup) XO sauce and stir for 1 minute. Add the clams and toss until well coated in the sauce. Add the chilli and toss to combine, then transfer to a serving platter, scatter with spring onion and shaved black truffle and serve immediately.

Note

•The XO sauce recipe makes more than you need for this recipe but it is a great condiment to have on hand and will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month. The dried seafood, chilli oil and fried shallots are readily available from Asian grocers.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.