I can't help but think that the name of this snack sounds like something out of a Stephen Chow movie ahaha. ^^;; But maybe that's to be expected because this did after all come from Hong Kong - the Hong Kong bakery chain Kee Wah to be specific. Well, I suppose XO sauce is supposed to be any Chinese sauce made from a kickass assortment of ingredients that makes your eyes sparkle upon contact with your tongue. Or something like that.
Anyway, these were rather crunchy cookies that came in rather assorted popcorn sizes and shapes. "Popcorn" as in popcorn chicken, for instance. They're about 2-4cm in diameter/length each.
I think to understand the taste, you would first have to survey the ingredients list, which is pretty colourful indeed (figuratively)... certainly not something that most people would associate with cookies, although I've seen some innovations in the Singapore scene where cookie flavours are based off local savoury dishes.
The ingredients that made me go O_o were dried shrimp, chicken powder and rose wine, whatever that is. There were also a lot of other notable ingredients which contributed to the taste: black melon seed, malt sugar, white sesame seed, pepper and chilli powder.
Here's a picture of the inside, which shows some of the filling, although even to me I found it hard to see exactly what the filling was supposed to be without referring to the ingredients list. I suppose what you mostly see are the nuts and seeds embedded in maltose.
Taste-wise, the first thing that struck me was that it was VERY savoury and spicy indeed! Although chilli powder is the last ingredient to be listed, it was pretty spicy. Well, not enough to make me cry, but considering that I'm a Singaporean, and that this *is* after all a cookie, I guess the spiciness would take one by surprise on the first bite.
Then, there was a very strong sesame-infused dried shrimp flavour... it reminded me of hebi hiam, which is a local paste of dried shrimp sambal.
The other noteworthy part of the experience is that once you got past the very crunchy cookie exterior, the filling was very firm and chewy, like maltose candy that would stick to your teeth. That would be the effect of the malt sugar kicking in I suppose. I liked the crunch, but I hated that stickily chewy part of the texture.
Overall, I would describe it as a very tasty Chinese appetiser that you can crunch on. It's really worth trying!
Anyway, these were rather crunchy cookies that came in rather assorted popcorn sizes and shapes. "Popcorn" as in popcorn chicken, for instance. They're about 2-4cm in diameter/length each.
Here's a picture of the inside, which shows some of the filling, although even to me I found it hard to see exactly what the filling was supposed to be without referring to the ingredients list. I suppose what you mostly see are the nuts and seeds embedded in maltose.
Then, there was a very strong sesame-infused dried shrimp flavour... it reminded me of hebi hiam, which is a local paste of dried shrimp sambal.
The other noteworthy part of the experience is that once you got past the very crunchy cookie exterior, the filling was very firm and chewy, like maltose candy that would stick to your teeth. That would be the effect of the malt sugar kicking in I suppose. I liked the crunch, but I hated that stickily chewy part of the texture.
Overall, I would describe it as a very tasty Chinese appetiser that you can crunch on. It's really worth trying!
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