XO Sauce is a common Cantonese condiment made with dried seafood, chili peppers, garlic, and aromatics. The XO sauce at Kraken Congee, the brainchild of Shane Robinson, includes dried scallops, dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, ginger, shallots, garlic, chili flakes, and oil. The key is in the ratio, they say. The intensely savory and aromatic condiment has dressed congee topped with five-spice duck confit and acted as a dip for Chinese donuts, and it was on the menu at their August 4 pop-up at Grub.

1407 14th Ave., krakencongee.com

Read all of our picks for Food & Drink, and explore the rest of this year’s edition of Best of Seattle.