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XO sauce.
The pride of Hong Kong chefs is now found at Chinese restaurants here such as T.C. Choy. It's used to doll up steak, scallops and other pricey dishes. The "XO" name is borrowed from the labels of expensive Cognac, but brandy is rarely used in it. The common ingredients are dried scallops, dried shrimp, ham, garlic and peppers long cooked into a deep brown sauce that gives rich, earthy notes, a hint of salt, and light peppery afterburn.