Taiwanese X.O. Sauce?

VSOP

I have heard of X.O. sauce, which is a spicy blend of dried flaked Chinese ham and scallops. It has a very strong “Chinese-y” flavor, and also very spicy and oily. I have, on occasion ordered dishes flavored with X.O. sauce from several Chinese restaurants but failed to appreciate any flavor other than the soy sauce or garlic! Apparently, local chefs have been instructed to use the said sauce sparingly as it is very strong and at the same time expensive.

Lately at Unimart, I came across a Taiwanese product labeled “VSOP.” It seemed like their version of the Chinese XO sauce. With my limited knowledge of kanji, I know the individual meanings of the first three characters: five – star – up. I take that to mean superior quality. The ingredients listed chili, buccaneer anchovy, shrimp, blackbean, garlic ginger, sugar, rice wine, and soybean oil. I bought a small bottle to try on some stir-fry.

On opening, the bottle contained whole pieces of dried anchovies, dried shrimp and fermented black beans. There were also chili seeds. It wasn’t a paste at all, but a misture of different dried stuff. It was extremely spicy! It wasn’t as salty as I expected, or perhaps the heat numbed my tongue!

For the stir fry, I added some of the VSOP oil onto a non-stick pan. I sautéed some julienned scallions then added some leftover tofu. I added the VSOP “paste” then the handful of bean sprouts. I tossed them for less than a minute before adding a final touch of light soy sauce (around one tablespoon).



I enjoyed this side-dish with some fried stuff! But my mom could not stop coughing because of the chili!