BRUSSELS SPROUTS with BACON, MINT, PISTACHIO, FISH SAUCE, PI

• portions: SERVES 4 TO 6
• temps total: PREP TIME: 1 HOUR

Ingrédients

1 red bell pepper

1 jalapeño

1 scotch bonnet

2 Thai chiles

2 red serrano peppers

½ cup fish sauce

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

4 pounds Brussels sprouts, half halved and half shaved

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

4 ounces bacon

1 cup pistachios, toasted and chopped

½ bunch mint, finely chopped

Zest and juice of 1 lime

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450°F. Take the stems off the peppers. In a blender, puree the red bell pepper, jalapeño, scotch bonnet, Thai chiles, serranos, fish sauce, and vinegar. While the peppers are blending, start your caramel. In a small pot over medium- low heat, combine the sugar and water and reduce until thickened and dark amber in color. This will take time and you need to keep stirring it pretty consistently. Then add the blended peppers mixture into your caramel and stir to combine. Turn the heat off and remove the pan and let it chill out for a second. Don't want it to be fudge.

On a baking sheet, toss your halved Brussels sprouts and bacon in olive oil and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Roast until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes. Then cut your bacon into small pieces, about a quarter of an inch.

In a large bowl, combine the roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon with the pistachios. Don't add all the caramel in at once. Add it gradually and toss everything together.

Plate the salad on a nice platter. Cover with the shaved Brussels sprouts, mint, and lime zest and juice. Toss and serve to your best friends only, no borderline people, only ride-or-dies.

Notes

Twelve years ago, you couldn't walk into a restaurant and not get fried Brussels sprouts with a spicy sauce or something. It was like wildfire. This is the 2020s redux version of something we all used to love that got beaten down so hard from triple-trickle-down restaurant folks. But these fried Brussels deserve to live again because this is something special. The deep caramelization from frying combined with that super-bouncy crunch of the raw is world class. This salad is so fucking good. Wow.

Let's honor the 2010s.