Inspiration isn't a bad thing

One of my favorite dishes in Manhattan right now is the Bouchot Mussels dish the guys at Momofuku Noodle Bar serve.
It's a concoction made up of Bouchot Mussels, Garlic Miso Sausage, and bits of Sauteed Kale. The soupy sauce on the bottom of the bowl is a result of the sweet juice from the mussels, reduced sake, and the deglazed goodness of the sausage and it's renderings. This and a bowl of steamed rice is what I call comfort food. OOOOOWEE that's good!

Well, I just love that garlicy miso sausage so much, I had to make my version of it.




















I had some left over ground pork from a mapo tofu dish I made the other day.
I marinaded (for 1 hour) the pork with Kidaru Jukusei Miso, Akasake Mirin, and a little bit of Gochujan.
I flattened the sausage and pan seared it first, before breaking it up into bite sized pieces. I wanted to make sure it wasn't all busted up and not manageable to eat with chopsticks.











With the Brussel Sprouts, I quickly blanched them in hot water for 2 minutes.
Took them out, patted dry, then sauteed the cut ends in olive oil and butter.
The natural sugars in the sprouts helped caramelize, giving a nice charred coloration and flavor.
After about 1 minute of sauteeing, I added the already cooked sausage into the pan, tossed and plated.
You can adjust seasoning right before plating, but I found the sausage already had enough punch to carry the dish.