Tender, yet crunchy Brussels sprouts are finished with a delicious miso sesame sauce.
Steps
1
Making the Miso Sesame Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup HOT water
1/2 cup light miso
1/4 cup mirin
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 tbsp Garlic Confit
2 tbsp sesame oil
To make the sauce, first gather and prepare your mise en place, including the Garlic Confit.
Next, blend together the miso paste, cane sugar, Garlic Confit, HOT water, mirin, rice wine vinegar—blending until smooth. Lastly, slowly drizzle in the sesame oil.
Note: Hot water is used as it helps the cane sugar melt. Alternatively, the whole sauce, minus the sesame oil, can be heated first on the stovetop and then blended.
Once done, set aside until ready to use. This versatile sauce can be used hot, warm or cold, either as a sauce or as a dressing. Any leftover sauce will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
2
Preparing the Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
2 lbs Brussels sprouts, approx.
To prepare the Brussels sprout leaves, peel away any dirty leaves and then trim just the very bottom of the sprouts. Then start to peel away the outer leaves. Once the you get to the point where it becomes more difficult to peel away the outer leaves, cut a bit more off of the bottom of the sprout and continue to peel away the leaves.
Once most of the leaves have been peeled away, you will be left with a small cabbage-like core, save this for another time.
3
Cooking the Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
3 cups Brussels sprouts leaves
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup Miso Sesame Sauce
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black peeper, to taste
To cook the Brussels sprouts, heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat. Once hot, add the oil followed by the Brussels sprouts. Cook for a minute or two - the leaves should still be crunchy, so be sure you don't over cook them.
Next, add the Miso Sesame Sauce and toss. Continue to cook for about a minute, just to heat the sauce through.
Finish the Brussels sprouts by seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, to maintain their crispiness and vibrant color.
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Mirin is a seasoning common to the Japanese kitchen. It tastes like sweet sake. And, miso paste is fermented soy bean paste, also from the Japanese kitchen. You can usually find these items at Asian grocers.
This looks really good but I'm trying to use no added oil. Any suggestions for substitutes for sesame oil? I think I could use roasted garlic in the dressing instead of the confit but I haven't figured out how to mimic sesame oil. Toasted sesame seeds blended with some tahini?
Hi Julia and thanks for your question - your instincts are perfect here. Go ahead and omit the sesame oil but, as you mention, blend toasted sesame seeds with tahini - we do this all the time at home. Ironically, we are having a very similar dish at home tonight! Thanks for your engagement with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
My family really loves this sauce and we have made this dish multiple times. But I find that adding 1 cup of water makes the sauce very thin and it ends up runny. So I add only 1/2 cup of hot water and it works out very well for us.
Hi Arti: thanks for writing. One of the many wonderful things about making sauces, is that you can manage the consistency that most appeals to your palate. Sounds as though you have created a winning recipe for you and your family. I find that the sauce also makes a great marinade for tofu! Cheers, Char
Eric W • Rouxbe Staff •Mirin is a seasoning common to the Japanese kitchen. It tastes like sweet sake. And, miso paste is fermented soy bean paste, also from the Japanese kitchen. You can usually find these items at Asian grocers.
Julia P •This looks really good but I'm trying to use no added oil. Any suggestions for substitutes for sesame oil? I think I could use roasted garlic in the dressing instead of the confit but I haven't figured out how to mimic sesame oil. Toasted sesame seeds blended with some tahini?
Kirk B •Hi Julia and thanks for your question - your instincts are perfect here. Go ahead and omit the sesame oil but, as you mention, blend toasted sesame seeds with tahini - we do this all the time at home. Ironically, we are having a very similar dish at home tonight! Thanks for your engagement with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
Arti S •My family really loves this sauce and we have made this dish multiple times. But I find that adding 1 cup of water makes the sauce very thin and it ends up runny. So I add only 1/2 cup of hot water and it works out very well for us.
Char N • Rouxbe Staff •Hi Arti: thanks for writing. One of the many wonderful things about making sauces, is that you can manage the consistency that most appeals to your palate. Sounds as though you have created a winning recipe for you and your family. I find that the sauce also makes a great marinade for tofu! Cheers, Char