Pipis with XO sauce

Serves 2 as a meal

XO sauce

– 50g dried scallops

– 50g dried shrimp

– 50g garlic cloves

– 50g large red chilli, deseeded

– 50g ginger

– 50g prosciutto or other salted ham – 100g shallots

– 500ml grapeseed oil

– 100ml light soy sauce

– 15g Korean dried chilli

– 200g flat rice noodles

– 1 bunch water spinach

– 50g fermented mustard greens – 1kg pipis

– 150g XO sauce

Soak the scallops and the shrimp in just enough hot water to cover them.

Finely chop the garlic, chilli and ginger. Shred the prosciutto and slice the shallots into half moons.

Strain the liquid from the scallops and shrimp and retain for cooking later. Pound the scallops and the shrimp meat separately using a mortar and pestle until it resembles floss.

In a heavy-based pot combine the fresh chilli, ginger, garlic and shallots with half of the oil. Cook this all together until it begins to get jammy but not too heavily coloured. Add the shrimp, scallops and prosciutto and cook for a further five minutes before adding the liquid from soaking along with the rest of the ingredients, including the rest of the oil. Let this cook on a low heat for 30 minutes to one hour. Transfer into small sealable glass jars and let cool with the lids off.

Prepare the rice noodles according to package instructions and set aside. Wash and roughly cut the water spinach. Chop the mustard greens finely.

Preheat a wok to high temperature before adding the pipis with one tablespoon of water. Steam and remove as they pop open, placing them into a bowl. Tip the last pipis, together with what liquid has remained, into the bowl and wipe the wok dry.

Add the XO sauce to the wok before it gets too hot. Once the sauce begins to fry, add the water spinach followed closely by the pipis and strain the juice into the wok. Mix the pipis in the XO sauce before adding the noodles, then toss the noodles to the bottom to allow for a slight toast on the wok surface. Finish with the mustard greens and mix vigorously. Distribute evenly into serving bowls.