This is by far the best Brussels sprouts dish I’ve ever had. It’s inspired from one of my favorite cooks, Maangchi. She’s teaches Korean cooking and she’s absolutely adorable. This dish is loosely based on her Spicy braised potatoes (Maeun-gamja-jorim) recipe, but altered to make it vegan-friendly and swapped out the key ingredient: potatoes, for Brussels sprouts. I also adjusted some of ingredient portions, and added a few extra to make a tastier Brussels sprout.

I think this came out great! It’s like salty, spicy, semi-sweet, soft and crispy little bites of heaven.

So that’s why some of the ingredients might sound a bit odd, like the chili spices and paste. Gochujang is something I can find in glass at my local Whole Foods for about $7. It’s also probably available in Asian markets, but try to avoid plastic. There are plenty of other spices and chili sauces or pastes you can use. Ideally you want something at a spice level you can handle, but not a real smokey-chili, that will overpower the flavor of the dish, and jalapeños have too distinct a flavor of their own. So regular chili flakes would be fine, sriracha sauce might even work, though I haven’t personally tried it. The only bad part about these spices is that even GLASS jars and bottles usually have some element of plastic to them, like the wrapper around the lid, or the safety seal on top of of the bottle, things that are usually not recyclable. Although these small, they add up person by person over time. So whenever possible, try to find bulk spices. And again, adjust to your preference! If you don’t like spicy food, just skip this part.

All the other ingredients I was easily able to find in glass, package free from the bulk section, or loose – like the garlic, which was also package free.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a dish I can make all the time because more than half the time I am at the store, I can only find Brussels sprouts packaged in plastic. But once in a while, maybe 30% of the time, the store will have the sprouts in a big loose bin, or still attached to a big stalk.

Ingredients:

16 ounces of Brussels sprouts – bulk/loose, or buy on stalk

1-2 tablespoons olive oil – refill or glass container

Bing Bang Boom Sauce:

2 tablespoons maple syrup (can substitute with honey or sugar) refill or glass container

2 tablespoons of soy sauce (preferably Shoyu) or liquid aminos refill or glass container

1 tablespoon rice vinegar (can substitute with apple cider vinegar) refill or glass container

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil refill or glass container

1 clove garlic, minced (or more, depending on how much you like garlic)

1/2 tablespoon ginger, minced

1/2 tablespoon chili paste like Gochujang (can substitute with sriracha or any non-smokey equivalent) bulk or glass container

1 teaspoon of chili flakes (optional, adjust to personal taste) bulk or glass container

1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional) – bulk or glass container

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse the Brussels sprouts to remove any remaining dirt bits, and shake well to dry. Trim the ends of the Brussels sprouts and remove and outer leaves that are bad or easily falling off – if undesirable, compost them. Otherwise you can use fresh Brussels sprout leaves in a salad. Cut any large sprouts in halve lengthwise, little sprouts are okay to leave whole. Toss the sprouts in olive oil and lay flat-side down on a baking sheet. Spread them out so they’re not cluttered. Cook for a half hour, turning them after 20 minutes. You want them a little browned but not burnt to a crisp!

Bing Bang Boom Sauce:

While the sprouts cook, add all sauce ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to medium-low, stirring frequently. If the garlic is burning, it’s too high, adjust the heat as needed. You’ll want to stir every 30 seconds or so for about 3-4 minutes, until the sauce thickens into a syrup. Once thickened, remove from heat and set side. When the sprouts are cooked, remove from the pan and toss them in a bowl with the Bing Bang Boom Sauce. Serve immediately, but it also stores well in the fridge for a few days and tastes just as good the next day.

***Bonus Recipe:

Sprout Chips:

Don’t toss those good outer sprout leaves…you know, the ones that fell off when you were cutting them. These are just healthy leaves! Instead of wasting them all, you can make a delicious and crispy snack. You can make these right away, or pop them in the fridge and make them tomorrow.

Ingredients:

Remaining Brussels Sprout Leaves

Olive Oil

Salt

**There’s no measurements given because how many leaves are left over is pretty random. You just want to make sure each leaf has a light coating of oil, then sprinkle with salt, to taste. You can really add any seasonings you want here.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Arrange the Brussels sprout leaves on a baking sheet in a single layer and back for about 5 minutes – but check on them frequently – ever 30 seconds or so after 4 minutes to make sure they’re not burning.

Waste Created: Compost: A few bad Brussels Sprout leaves

Garlic skin Recycling: None Landfill: None