Delicious recipe from East Side King in Austin.
This is the salad I was telling you about that I had at East Side Kings place in the Hole in the Wall in Austin. I had been reading about food trucks on this particular visit to Austin and wanted to visit one of Paul Qui’s places. Everyone raved about his salad. I liked the salad but mine was drenched in dressing.
So, when I set about trying to find a similar recipe I came across his recipe printed in People magazine. The recipe there did not list the cabbage but on the restaurant menu it does. I took liberties with the recipe because I wanted some “greens” in it; instead of slaw type ingredients. So I used savory cabbage because I like how ruffled it looks when you cut it. Originally I added a handful of arugula but found that with the bitterness of the Brussels sprouts the arugula was too much.
One big change I made was to the Brussels sprouts which he pan sautéed. After making the Fried Brussels Sprout Leaves and learning how frying them brought out the sweetness, I decided the second time of making the salad to fry the leaves and toss with the salad at the last minute.
One other thing is the jalapeño which he added to his salad. It was sliced very thinly but the dressing has 4 Thai chili peppers in it which made for a pretty “hot” salad. I omitted the jalapeño all together on the second try and the heat from the chili dressing was perfect. One of Paul’s recipes called for alfalfa sprouts; which I decided to replace with pea shoots. To me alfalfa sprouts just disappear into the salad and I love the “cute” factor of the pea shoots.
Second time out I also added a handful of fresh bean sprouts and a few sesame seeds and I added 1 teaspoon of balsamic to the dressing which I think really improved it.
Who am I to change a recipe of a Top Chef winner — well I did and I liked the results. As you can tell from my changes, you can try just about anything. The stars of the salad I think are the fried Brussels sprout leaves, fried shallots and the dressing.