Plant-Forward Power Play

At Miss Kim, a modern Korean restaurant in Ann Arbor, Mich., Ji Hye Kim, executive chef, puts forth fish sauce caramel as a savory-sweet lacquer for vegetables. In her Crispy Broccolini in Fish Caramel, the broccolini is roasted, then tossed in a caramel built from anchovy sauce—similar in funk to traditional Vietnamese fish sauce—then finished with cashews and cilantro. The result is a deeply flavorful plant-forward side that leverages the layered depth of fish sauce caramel.

This build offers a template for cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots and more—giving operators a high-impact glaze for veg-centric dishes. It’s a plant-forward adaptation that repositions fish sauce caramel beyond protein builds and demonstrates its value as a flavor amplifier in unexpected formats.

Flavors on the Edge is an ongoing series that explores emerging ingredients poised to become high-impact flavor builders.