Pan roasted brussel sprouts are incredibly more-ish and coated in a punchy dressing that will convert even the most ardent haters. The flavours from warm honey, red wine vinegar bring out hints of bitterness from the char making it one delicious mouthful.
A lot of people have rather strong negative emotions about childhoods scarred from boiled Brussels. I didn’t grow up eating these. So when I met my first Brussel sprout as an adult, it was love at first bite. They have this incredible savoury/nutty quality. The key is to know, that just like cabbage, it is important to take advantage of their natural sugars. Get them nice golden, charred and crispy!
I find pan-roasted brussel sprouts offer much more control to get colour and cook evenly so I love using my trusty cast iron pan. The Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing) deglazes the pan and helps generate steam to cover and finish cooking the sprouts. Of course you could use water for this purpose as well with decent results if you don’t have Shaoxing wine at home, but its an ingredient I highly recommend adding to your pantry staples. It adds an unmistakable flavour and fragrance to dishes and is incredibly versatile.
Warming the honey allows it to absorb flavours of chilli as well as mellows out the raw garlic. The result is a sweet-sticky-spicy situation that you will love!
Hot Honey Roast Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
- 500 gms Brussel Sprouts (trimmed and sliced into quarters)
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt (to taste)
- ¼ cup Shaoxing Wine (or use water)
- Spring onion (greens only)
The Dressing
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1 clove Garlic (grated)
- 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 Lemon Zest
- ¼ tsp Crushed Red Chilli flakes
Instructions
- Trim the bottoms and quarter (or halve) the brussel sprouts. Save any of the errand leaves that come off. Toss with the olive oil and salt in a bowl.
- Get your cast iron pan (or any fry pan) really scorching hot. Add the brussel sprouts in a single layer cut side down and let them get golden brown. Be careful not to crowd the pan. Then flip to the other cut side and let it develop colour as well.
- Deglaze the pan with some of the Shaoxing (Chinese cooking) wine and cover and let them cook in the steam. Set aside when cooked through with still some bite to it.
- In a microwave safe bowl or stove top if thats how you prefer, heat up your honey until it feels runny/pouring consistency. Add the grated garlic and chilli flakes and let them bloom in the honey.
- In a bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar and lemon zest and whisk it together. Pour over the brussel sprouts and toss until evenly coated. Garnish with spring onion greens. Serve warm or room temperature, both work well!
For other delicious recipes from the blog, click here. If you make this recipe and love it, let me know in the comments below. When sharing on Instagram, tag me @rupalbhatikar.
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