Bucatini XO Butter e Pepe
XO Sauce is a Cantonese spicy seafood sauce that’s truly a flavor bomb— dried shrimp and scallops along with ham come together with more umami-rich ingredients like chile, soy and brown sugar to create a condiment you’ll want to dollop on noodles, rice, fish…anything! The idea of XO and butter came from a dish I ate at Chinese Tuxedo in NYC’s Chinatown, where my pal Eddy Buckingham and his team’s modern take on Chinese classics make your taste buds sing. The richness of the butter combined with the balanced zip of the XO Sauce is heaven! He uses gorgeous hand-pulled noodles, but I’ve used bucatini for a great chew along with a touch of black pepper for some more heat. What’s great about this recipe is that it’s just a few ingredients and it’s ready in the time that it takes to boil the pasta.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. bucatini
½ cup XO Sauce, plus more serving
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
METHOD
Cook pasta according to package instructions in well-salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile, melt butter in sauce pan over medium-low heat until just melted. Remove pan from heat. When pasta is ready, add to pan with butter, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Use tongs to toss, adding pasta water (a few tablespoons at a time) as needed to create a silky sauce. Stir in XO sauce, salt and pepper and transfer to a serving platter. Serve immediately with more XO Sauce alongside.