How many of you guys remember the children's cartoon Franklin? It was a cartoon about a young boy turtle named Franklin living the classic normal life. Anyways, I vividly remember an episode where Franklin's mother cooked brussel sprouts. Franklin ate it and spit it out. But like every good son (or son that didn't want to get in trouble for not eating his veggies), he hid them all in the potted plant. Since then, I grew up to believe brussel sprouts were disgusting vegetables that should never be in existence. That is until a few years ago, when I first ate brussel sprouts with bacon. Although, anything tastes good with bacon, so that didn't change my mind entirely.
UNTIL...I visited my cousin in Portland and went to Tasty & Alder. We ordered "Saigon Brussel Sprouts," because we wanted to be responsible and have some type of greens on our table. I am SO glad we ordered those. It was this tasty combination of sweet fish sauce and crispy leafy greens without the bitterness of the sprouts. I just realized that might sound disgusting to some people, but just trust me on this. I cannot stop stuffing my face with this, which kind of sucks because I'm eating it off the pan and it's piping hot. I mean, brussel sprouts are vegetables and I'm just trying to eat my daily serving of veggies. Shhh, let me keep telling myself this.
Want to know the best part of this recipe? It requires my favorite cookware: a cast-iron skillet. The most durable of all cookware, I cannot live without my cast-iron skillet. Not only is it non-stick and holds heat extremely well, but it's also my trusty weapon in case any bad guys decide to attack my home. Clearly, I'm running daydreams of me as Rapunzel in Disney's movie,Tangled. Arm workout for the day: 5x5 cast-iron skillet arm swings. Now that we got a workout in, let's eat!
Sidenote: I'm considering doing a Vietnamese food series, possibly other ethnic foods as well in future series. Let me know what you think in the comment section.
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup fish sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (rice vinegar is the same thing)
2 tsp lime juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 lb. brussel sprouts, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp canola oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a small bowl, whisk together fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, and brown sugar. Set aside.
Cut brussel sprouts in half. Remove core and peel leaves from a handful of the halved brussel sprouts, approximately five brussel sprouts. Mix the halved sprouts and loose leaves in a bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat oil on skillet over medium heat. Toss halved sprouts (cut side down), loose leaves, and minced garlic onto the skillet. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until bottom of sprouts began to brown. Drizzle 1/8 c of the fish sauce mixture onto the sprouts, toss until well combined.
Place skillet in the oven, roast until sprouts are tender, approximately 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve hot! I drizzled a spoonful of the remaining fish sauce mixture over the hot brussel sprouts for additional goodness.