The Kung-Pao Brussel Sprouts at Brooklyn Warehouse in Halifax weren’t really Kung-Pao style, but still well deserving of a 5 out of 5 Rating.
The dish you see pictured above was served at the Brooklyn Warehouse in Halifax during the same meal as a truly excellent Carpaccio dish I enjoyed there. My sister actually ordered this one, but I got to try it and, off all the dishes we tried that night, I think this was the star of the show.
In this little appetizer dish, the Brussel Sprouts were roasted. Now, if you are not a huge fan of Brussel Sprouts and haven’t tried them this way, you really should. Roasting, as opposed to boiling or steaming, reduces the sulfurous element that many people dislike and replaces it with a sweet, nuttiness that really makes this vegetable shine.
Here, they did a lovely job of roasting the Sprouts. They were very slightly charred on the outside, which added lovely smoky notes, but they weren’t dried out at all. On the inside they were really tender and moist and evenly cooked throughout.
The menu indicated that these were served with Chilies, Garlic, Peanuts, and Scallions. The Peanuts and Scallions were added after cooking and topped the dish as a garnish. The Scallions added a nice flavor component, and the peanuts a nice textural contrast and a little saltiness. There wasn’t much in the way of Chilies, as it happened, but, in the end result, I didn’t mind this very much at all.
The sauce for the Kung-Pao Brussel Sprouts was really more of a glaze and seemed to be a sweetish preparation something like a Chinese Char Siu Sauce, or, perhaps a Hoisin Sauce. The Garlic was obvious here, although mild, and the chilies, though not visible, lent a faint background heat. Despite the Peanuts, and the Chili, this really wasn’t a Kung Pao dish at all, but I still thought it excellent.