I was wary about the combination of Brussels sprouts and chile sauce when I saw this on the menu at Le Colonial in San Francisco, but it ended up being the hit of the evening. And with my find of Dragunara Sweet Chile Sauce the next day at the Fancy Food Show, I knew I’d be running home to try and re-create it. To make a meal out of it, add some sliced sausage or shredded chicken, and serve over brown rice. In fact, you could stick with the whole Fancy Food theme and use Field Roast Vegetarian Sausages and Village Harvest Frozen Brown Rice Medley.
1-1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, outside leaves removed and stem trimmed, halved lengthwise (if super-small, leave whole; if super-large, quarter)
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallot
1/4 cup sweet chile sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Sriracha hot sauce (optional, for added heat)
Fill a wok with salted water and bring to a boil. Boil Brussels sprouts for 2 minutes, pour into a colander, rinse with cold water and drain well (don’t worry if some of the leaves fall off—they’ll be lovely). Dump sprouts onto a kitchen towel, lay another one on top and blot dry. Let them sit while the mushrooms cook. Wipe out wok.
Heat wok over high heat (note: keep the heat really high during all of the stir-frying) for 1 minute and swirl in 1 tablespoon oil. Add mushrooms and garlic, and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Scoop into a bowl.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil and swirl around wok. Add shallots and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until golden brown. Add Brussels sprouts to pan with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, tossing constantly, for 5-7 minutes, until they’re charred and tender but not yet mushy.
Reduce heat to medium and stir the mushroom mixture back in. Pour in chile sauce and fish sauce. Toss to coat vegetables, sprinkle with cilantro and additional salt and pepper if desired, and serve with Sriracha (if using).
Serves 4
You are my new best friend!
Thanks for this recipe!
Well I like that! Enjoy, J!
Yes, I was at Le Colonial, San Francisco in early Nov 2010 and the waiter recommended this as a side dish. It was delicious! I couldn’t wait to try and recreate the dish. In my own recreation, I had grilled my Brussel sprouts after adding a bit of oil, pepper, salt and cilantro to create the charred texture prior to adding the Chili sauce mixture. I will definitely try the recipe above. Thank you.
Do give it a try! I can’t wait to make it again now that Brussels sprouts are back in season.
We had a wonderful dinner at Le Colonial last week so I was so pleased to find this recipe on your blog so I could attempt to recreate this signature dish at home. I have loved brussel sprouts for years once I discovered some really good recipes starting with Amanda Hesser’s in her first cookbook. Not having a wok though, my sprouts did not achieve the crispiness that make the dish so distinctive no matter how high I heated my skillet (perhaps my cast iron might have gotten hot enough though). However, I’ve roasted them in my oven on high heat many times and marveled at how crispy they can become. Next time I think I’ll simply roast mine in the oven to get the crispy outer leaves and then add to the sauteed mushrooms and the sauce. I also didn’t have the sweet chili sauce but found this recipe online and it was pretty good indeed!
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaicurrypasterecipes/r/Easy-Thai-Sweet-Chili-Sauce-Recipe.htm
Glad you found it, Sean! They were so good at Le Coloniel I HAD to recreate them. I think that would work fine with roasting the sprouts (and shallots), then adding the mushrooms and sauce in and giving it a toss. Let me know how it turns out!
thank you for posting this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to recreate Le Colonial’s dish for Thanksgiving dinner so this is a huge help!
thank you for posting this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to recreate Le Colonial’s dish for Thanksgiving dinner so this is a huge help!
As a SF resident, I was thrilled to see this on line…I had made some killer Thai sweet chili sauce and was about to embark on “figuring out” the rest when I ran into your blog…as a vegetarian, I found this dish THE dish to have at Le Colonial….thanks!
It’s an awesome dish, isn’t it, Regina?
These were the best brussel sprouts I have ever had! Our whole table loved the blend of sauces and ingredients. Thanks for sharing the recipe with me!