Asian Sprouts

Asian Sprouts with Bacon

Apologies to all my non-porky friends but this really does need the bacon – it is a marriage made in heaven. I am a boy originally from Margate in England, and bacon was a staple fried breakfast option along with black-pudding, sausages, fried slice, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and a mug of tea. You know, I kind of miss that some times when living in Asia. So let’s bring an element of it back to home in Singapore thought I, and here we go Asian Sprouts with Bacon.

This one has been rated highly by friends, in fact at a friend’s BBQ once they were stated to be the best sprouts that they have ever tasted. So it seems the recipe is worth sharing. This is so simple, it really is, but man oh man the outcome is so good – here is my Asian Sprouts with Bacon.

This will make a large bowl, easily enough for 4-6 as a side serving;

• 1 bag of Brussels sprouts, or as I found recently a bag of mini-cabbages (about 40-50 sprouts);
• 2 finely sliced chili padi;
• 4 finely chopped garlic cloves;
• 3 roughly chopped red onions;
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce;
• Good pinch of sea salt & cracked black pepper;
• 2 packs of bacon bits, or cubed bacon; and
• Duck or goose fat for frying (adds an “holy cow” moment to the dish) – normal oil will do.

1. Take the sprouts and peel a few layers of the outer leaves away, and trim off the stalk. On the stalk base cut a small cross to stop the sprouts splitting when you cook them;
2. Fill a pan half full of salted water, bring to boil and drop in 1/3 of the cabbages or sprouts. Cook these for 10-20 minutes until they’re really really soft and mushy. Take them off the heat and drain;
3. In a pan, fry off the bacon bits until browned with a little of the goose fat (oil), do not burnt though;
4. Add in the garlic, chili and onion and slowly fry until the vegetables are sweated a little;
5. Add the pre-cooked mushy sprouts and the remaining uncooked sprouts;
6. Add the soy and the salt and pepper and cook that slowly until the uncooked sprouts are slightly softened – you don’t want these mushy, just cooked enough so you can easily poke a fork in to them;
7. Keep adding more goose fat if the mixture dries out, as this will soak in to the sprouts and will deliver the “holy cow” flavour.

Friends you are pretty much done now. You just need a serving bowl, pop it all in there and you are finished! Serve up those bad boys, my Asian Sprouts with Bacon.

Mmmmm, dribbling a little bit here, good job keyboard has a waterproof cover! One pre-requisite – it must be served with a cold beer, as this is spicy, salty, bacony. It is indeed “die, die, must try.” My Asian Sprouts with Bacon will live on for ever I feel, well especially about one hour after eating them, ha ha. I tried them one at a Danial Boulud restaurant, believe me, mine are way way better – just follow that recipe. ENJOY!!!

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Brian Kennett

Father of 3. All my kids are mixed, with English-Japanese, and English-Filipino - a recipe in the making there. I have been cooking since a small lad, as guided by my Nan and my Mum - gradually that morphed through exposure to Thai cooking from a lovely lady called Da in Margate. I used to hang out in her restaurant and watch the techniques. So the 1+1= greater than 2 occurred - Mum/Nan/Da - off I went in to the world of Asian cuisine. Moving to Asia in early 2000's clearly has brought that on somewhat - we travel continually, and eat locally and therefore have exposure to more and more new things. I have lived my dream and written a cook book whilst here, an amazing experience and all for a good cause too as I raised a lot of money for charity. My blog is now hopefully turning in to book number 2. Watch this space. I hope you enjoy my passion.