Also this issue: Bon Temps Bourbon Blue, the first new Manayunk eatery in five years, is a welcome addition. -Maxine Keyser

June 19-25, 2003

food

XOtica

by Jenn Carbin

XO sauce just might be the perfect symbol, a culinary distillation really, of Thang Tran’s love for his customers and the Asian dining experience. As the owner of Hoa Viet, which he says was the only Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown 20 years ago, he sees Asian dining as something full of boundless tradition and limitless possibilities. Which is why he marvels at some of his more loyal American customers, let alone the Saturday-night pepper-steak set. "There are Americans who come here who have ordered the same dish for 15 years," he says in amazement.

XO sauce can arguably serve as a remedy for what we'll call fried-rice syndrome, served as it is on such familiar things as chicken, seafood or beef accompanied by mixed vegetables or broccoli.

Dishes prepared with it are good options for those who want to go beyond lo mein, lemon chicken and even the Vietnamese pho, but who aren't (pity) quite ready for shrimp on sugarcane, Vietnamese barbeque or jellyfish.

And more adventurous eaters attached to the bright, sprightly flavors of Southeast Asian cooking might relish the piquant, slightly smoky sauce, which hasn't gotten much play around here since it first appeared in the U.S. as a respected Asian hybrid several years ago.

XO apparently originated in Hong Kong, named after a posh brandy. "I can't say it's for Chinese or Vietnamese," says Tran. "It's an Asian sauce. It's a healthy sauce."

It's also a relatively expensive concoction often reserved for wedding banquets. Hoa Viet offers about four entrees prepared with what the Chinese call "the king of sauces."

True, XO is made almost entirely of dried ingredients: scallops, abalone, shrimp, garlic, pepper and onion. Cured ham is also used, or sometimes bacon instead.

According to Tran, dried scallops can cost $50 per pound and dried abalone can go for as much as $1,000 per pound. It mustn't take much to make good XO; the most expensive XO dish -- featuring fresh shrimp and squid -- on Tran's menu is priced at $12.95.

Born in Vietnam and of Chinese descent, Tran graduated 25 years ago from cooking school in international culinary heavyweight Hong Kong; he's well-versed in variety and borrowing. He insists on Virginia ham for Hoa Viet's XO.

Tran goes the extra step in many ways. He proudly offers food from north, south and central Vietnam. And those scary, don't-look-now meatballs available with the popular do-it-yourself rice-paper wraps in so many Vietnamese restaurants? At Hoa Viet, the charcoal-grilled choices include chicken, ground pork, jumbo shrimp and eel, and along with heaps of the usual herbs, are accompanied by mustard greens and a wider variety of pickled vegetables.

Hoa Viet, 1022 Race St., 215-592-8540.