Welcome to another tasty edition of Chefs Share! Each month, we share a home chef-friendly recipe from one of Miami’s culinary stars. If you’ve never worked in a professional kitchen before, don’t worry; these recipes don’t require any formal experience, and the ingredients can be found at your local supermarket or specialty grocer.
This month’s recipe comes to us from Jason Antolak, executive chef at G Bar, located at 1100 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami inside The Gabriel Miami hotel (786.577.9700).
(Courtesy of G Bar)
Chef Jason Antolak
Either you do or you don’t, but if you do love Brussels sprouts, you’ll love Antolak’s Crispy Brussels Sprouts & Pork Belly, which has quickly become the restaurant’s signature dish. The main ingredients are tossed in a seven-day ponzu and truffle oil mixture, then topped with Parmesan cheese and an over-easy egg. The broken yolk adds richness to the dish and enhances its other flavors.
Some recipes come with a side of story, which somehow makes them taste even better. Antolak says the ponzu and truffle oil mixture in this dish was created by accident when he was filling up a bottle of truffle oil while standing over some ponzu and got bumped, causing him to spill the oil into the sauce. After tasting the unintentional concoction, he recalled, “I realized it would pair perfectly with the Brussels sprouts.”
Before you get started, make sure to read the entire recipe to avoid any surprises along the way, and take special note of the seven days needed to allow the ponzu sauce to marinate. Enjoy!
CRISPY BRUSSELS SPROUTS & PORK BELLY
INGREDIENTS
· 3 cups mirin
· 3 cups rice wine vinegar
· 4 oranges, juiced (save one for marinade)
· 3 lemons, juiced
· 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
· 3 serrano peppers, cut in half with seeds left in
· 1 teaspoon wasabi powder
· Cooking oil, if deep fryer is used
· 1 pound pork belly, chopped into large pieces
· 1 pound Brussels sprouts, cut in half
· 1 egg
· 2 tablespoons prepared ponzu sauce
· 4 tablespoons truffle oil
· Salt and pepper to taste
· 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
PREPARATION
· To make ponzu sauce, combine mirin, rice wine vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, peppers and wasabi powder in bowl; add reserved orange, place in sealed container and refrigerate seven days.
· After seven days, strain sauce through fine-mesh sieve and place back in refrigerator until ready to use; sauce may be stored in refrigerator in sealed container for 30 days.
· To prepare dish, set deep fryer to 325º F or air fryer to 400º F. Cook pork belly pieces until almost crispy; add Brussels sprouts and cook until golden brown.
· Remove pork and sprouts and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
· Cook egg, either over easy or sunny side up.
· In mixing bowl, toss pork belly and Brussels sprouts with ponzu sauce and truffle oil, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
· Transfer mixture to shallow bowl, top with Parmesan cheese and egg, breaking the yolk, and serve immediately.
Irene Moore is a Miami-based writer and certified sommelier whose vivid descriptions take readers through culinary cultures around the world. Her feature articles have appeared in print publications, travel guidebooks and websites in the U.S. and Europe.