Blistered Vegetables with Scallion Oil
Thomas J. Story
Blistered vegetables were a hit at Diep Tran’s restaurant Good Girl Dinette, in part because grilling vegetables causes their natural sugars to caramelize. Dousing super-fresh produce in fish-sauce-infused scallion oil will make an appetizer that is crunchy, sweet, and salty all at the same time. You can use these techniques to blister pretty much any vegetable in your garden.
This recipe and others like it can be found in our story How the First Family of Fish Sauce Does a Holiday Feast.
How to Make It
1
To Make the Scallion Oil: Place the scallions in a heatproof pint jar, then add fish sauce and sugar.
2
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the oil to 180°F, which should take about 3 minutes.
3
Carefully pour the hot oil directly over the scallions. The scallions should sizzle once the oil is added.
4
Stir to combine all the ingredients. The scallion oil is now ready to use.
5
To Cook the Vegetables and Serve: Heat a grill to medium high.
6
Add the corn cobs, working in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Cook 5–7 minutes, just until the kernels start to blister and caramelize, then carefully transfer the corn onto a wire-rack-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining corn, cauliflower, green beans, and squash.
7
Transfer all the blistered vegetables to a platter and top with plenty of scallion oil to serve.
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
4 ears corn, shucked and cut into 3-inch segments if desired
½ lb cauliflower
½ lb green beans
½ lb summer squash
Red Boat Scallion Oil (see recipe at right)
For the Scallion Oil
1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green and white parts
1 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce
½ tsp granulated sugar
⅓ cup grapeseed, canola, vegetable, or other neutral oil
Directions
1
To Make the Scallion Oil: Place the scallions in a heatproof pint jar, then add fish sauce and sugar.
2
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the oil to 180°F, which should take about 3 minutes.
3
Carefully pour the hot oil directly over the scallions. The scallions should sizzle once the oil is added.
4
Stir to combine all the ingredients. The scallion oil is now ready to use.
5
To Cook the Vegetables and Serve: Heat a grill to medium high.
6
Add the corn cobs, working in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Cook 5–7 minutes, just until the kernels start to blister and caramelize, then carefully transfer the corn onto a wire-rack-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining corn, cauliflower, green beans, and squash.
7
Transfer all the blistered vegetables to a platter and top with plenty of scallion oil to serve.
