Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Caramel
Brussels sprouts roasted on a hot pan until the cut sides go nearly black, tossed in a Vietnamese-style dark caramel with fish sauce, lime and chile, then piled with herbs and peanuts.
Take the caramel to the color of an old penny before the fish sauce goes in. Pale caramel makes the sauce taste like candy. Dark caramel has a bitter edge that stands up to the salt and funk, and that's what keeps people eating these.
Ingredients
- Sprouts
- 1½ lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- Fish sauce caramel
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water, divided
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 limes, 1 juiced (about 2 tbsp), 1 in wedges
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced
- To finish
- ½ cup mint and cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- ¼ cup fried shallots, optional
Method
- Put a rimmed 13 by 18 inch sheet pan on a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 450°F. Cut any sprouts bigger than a golf ball into quarters. Toss them with the oil and salt.
- While the oven heats, put the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the water in a small light-colored saucepan over medium. Swirl the pan, don't stir, until the caramel is the color of an old penny, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Take it off the heat and pour in the fish sauce and the remaining 2 tablespoons water. It will spit and seize. Set it over low and stir until the hard bits melt, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice, garlic and chile.
- Pull out the hot pan and spread the sprouts on it, cut sides down. They should sizzle. Roast without touching until the undersides are deep brown, almost black at the edges, about 15 minutes.
- Shake the pan and roast until a knife slides into the core and the loose leaves are crisp, 5 to 7 minutes more.
- Rewarm the caramel with a splash of water if it has set up. Toss the hot sprouts with it in a big bowl. Top with the herbs, peanuts and fried shallots and serve right away with lime wedges.