hello! Hi everyone. Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to deconstructing Americanized Chinese cuisine with a shot at the Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts from PF Chang’s. For those new to the channel, in this series, we have been deconstructing iconically Americanized dishes from Chinese cuisine, and then seeing what it might look like if we were to cook the dish through the lens of more traditional Chinese wok cooking. And now, I feel like this doesn’t need to be said, but in case there was any doubt, uuuh, brussels sprouts are not a part of Chinese cuisine at all. They come from European cuisine, meaning that this is 100% an invention of Americanized Chinese cuisine and (likely more specifically) straight up just a creation of PF Chang’s.
The PF Chang’s description to this dish features a wok-charred brussels sprout, peanuts, chili pods and what they call a “kung pao sauce,” all of which are alluding to ingredients which you might more commonly see used in a kung pao chicken. This of course means that the main challenge that we’ll be facing today is how are we going to navigate the substitution of brussels sprouts in lieu of chicken thigh, and more specifically, how to they cook differently when wok-charred? Then finally rounding this all out, we’ll be borrowing some inspiration from our earlier kung pao chicken recipes from a while back to come up with a bright and savory kung pao sauce to pair with our brussels sprouts, leaning heavily on the use of chili crisp, rice vinegar, and shaoxing wine. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
8oz brussels sprouts
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
1/2 cup peanuts
6-8 Tian Jin peppers
peanut oil
corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water)
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp chili crisp oil
PREP
CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, set aside
MINCE ginger, set aside
REMOVE the tip of the stem of the brussels sprouts, then slice in half and set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 1/2 cup peanut oil and long yao
ADD the brussels sprouts and sear for 2.5 minutes undisturbed, then toss and saute for an additional 2 minutes
REMOVE the brussels sprouts, then add the peanuts and Tian Jin peppers and dry toast for 1-2 minutes
REMOVE, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add an additional 2 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the garlic and ginger and bloom until fragrant for 15 seconds
ADD the brussels sprouts, peanuts, and Tian Jin peppers back to the wok, then toss to combine
ADD the sauce plus 1/4 cup water and toss to combine
ADD the corn starch slurry and toss to combine