Paul Qui Brussels Sprouts (at last!!)

If you haven't heard of Paul Qui or Uchiko by now, please drop everything and go look them up. Or, if you're in Austin, head straight to Uchiko - trust me, you'll thank me. I've been fortunate enough to eat there about 5 times now, and each time I get at least one order of the brussels sprouts - trust me, they're THAT good. The last time I ate there, the bartender even shared the general method:

• Caramlize some fish sauce
• Flash fry the sprouts
• add with fish sauce and sweet chile sauce and some lemon

Sounds basic enough, right? Well, this isn't store-bought fish sauce or sweet chile sauce. Lucky for me, last month the Austin American-Statesman posted Uchi's recipe for the sprouts. This was almost dead-on. And, the best part? It makes a ton of sauce, probably enough to make the dish 4-5 times. And, since both have plenty of vinegar, they won't go bad anytime soon. Word to the wise, the sauce has quite a strong smell, so if you can leave a window open, that might be best :)

For this dish, I roasted the sprouts instead of frying them, but frying is definitely the way to go to enjoy them on their own :)

These little beauties are ready to go in the oven!

Brussels Sprouts Fried Rice
 
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped 
2 cups cooked brown rice, chilled
1 egg, beaten
2 cups Uchi Brussels sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup peanuts

In a large wok or nonstick skillet, warm to medium high heat then add oil. Add bell pepper and saute 2-3 minutes. Stir in rice and toss thoroughly and let warm, another 2-3 minutes. Make a well in the middle of the skillet and add egg. Let the egg cook 1-2 minutes, then toss around with rice and cook another 2 minutes. Stir in brussels sprouts and green onions, then finally peanuts. 

I had some spectators while cooking. Gratuitous dog and husband photos!

Can dogs eat Brussels sprouts too? :)

Kisses!