This cauliflower is everything!

This recipe is a combo of two of my kids favourite meals – sushi rolls and vegan cauliflower “nuggets”. I had some left over battered cauliflower and the kids wanted sushi for dinner so I thought I'd try and turn the cauliflower into vegan fried teriyaki “chicken”. And the result was amazing! The cauliflower stays super crispy even when cold and the sweet sticky sauce coats the batter and makes it even more delicious.

As so often happens when I think I'm being original, after a bit of googling I discovered that people are onto this concept! Der. And with good reason – it's seriously good. I did note that lot's of other recipes don't batter and deep dry the cauliflower. In my opinion it's what makes all difference and makes the cauliflower taste like deep fried chicken you get at Japanese restaurants. So I urge you not to skip this step. The crunch factor is super important. I like to eat pretty healthily, but I am a big believer in everything in moderation. A little bit of deep frying is ok! It adds such a nice texture and richness to this dish that you need!

We are pretty obsessed with sushi rolls in our house. My my kids could eat hand rolls for days and I often make them it for school lunches. They are obsessed with the nori sheets and have a large sheet of nori in their lunchbox every day. I find it kinda strange as even I would't eat a plain sheet of nori by itself! But I keep that opinion to myself of course. In this recipe I used toasted crushed nori as a seasoning and sprinkle it on top to give the recipe that seaweed taste I associate with sushi.

There is a bit of work that goes into making the cauliflower, but trust me you won't regret your effort. With a bit of practise you'll be a pro! My oldest daughter Fig loves it so much she makes the nuggets her self and just gets me to deep fry them. The great thing with sushi bowls is once you've prepped the ingredients your can just serve up all the ingredients and let people sere themselves. No time spent painstakingly rolling out the rice and stressing about your rolling technique! There is also the added bonus that any fussy eaters can choose what they want in their bowl and you don't have to make four different types of sushi rolls dictated by your kids likes and dislikes. I'm sure many other parents out there understand the appeal of this very well!

The star of this dish is definitely the teriyaki cauliflower. So do what you want with it! If you don't feel like making a sushi bowl just have it was a salad or some plain rice and greens. Or just have a massive bowl of it in from on a movie. The possibilities are endless. If your want to try my spicy Korean gochujang fried cauliflower (pictured below) check out the recipe here...

Crispy Teriyaki Cauliflower Sushi Bowls

Prep time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Dietary guide: This recipe is vegan.

Gluten Free adaptation: Replace the plain flour with rice flour and the breadcrumbs with gluten free bread crumbs.

FODMAP friendly adaptation: Use broccoli instead of cauliflower. Omit the garlic, garlic powder and shallot from the sauce replacing it with 1 teaspoon of garlic oil and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped green spring onion. Replace the plain flour in the batter with rice flour and the breadcrumbs with gluten free or sour dough bread crumbs. Use the green part of the spring onion only and keep your serving of the avocado under the recommended amount of avocado (1/8th).

Ingredients

For the cauliflower

¼ of a large or ½ a small cauliflower (about 350g) cut into nugget sized pieces

½ cup of corn flour

½ cup plain flour

1 cup of cold beer or soda water or water

1 teaspoons of baking powder

250g of Panko bread crumbs

Oil with a high smoke point for frying (at least 2 cups)

¼ cup of extra plain flour

For the teriyaki sauce

4 tablespoon of light soy sauce

2 tablespoon of mirin (I recommend Manjo Rich)

3 tablespoon of rice cooking wine or sake

4 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 teaspoon of sesame oil

2 teaspoon of crushed garlic

2 teaspoon of minced ginger

2 teaspoon of cornflour

To serve

Cooked sushi rice for 4 people (see packet instructions)

1 cup of shelled edamame beans

2 avocados peeled and cut into 1/8th

1 small-medium cucumber sliced into rounds or strips

1 tablespoon of sesame seeds toasted

1 tablespoon of spring onion chopped
2 tablespoons of Japanese style pickled ginger

1 ½ tablespoons of kewpies mayo (regular or vegan)

1 sheet or nori (seaweed)

Instructions

Bring ½ a cup of water and all the ingredients for the sauce (except the corn flour) to the boil in a small saucepan. Turn down and simmer for 5 minutes. Mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoons of water to make a slurry (helps prevent lumps forming). Add the slurry to the sauce stirring quickly. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reached a texture similar to gravy. Set aside until needed.
Place the edamame in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling hot water. Sit for a few minutes to cook the edamame, drain and set aside.
Dry fry the nori sheet in a fry pan over low heat until it crisps up a little – won't take long. Crush with your hands inso small flakes. Set aside.
Place the corn flour, plain flour and baking powder in small shallow mixing bowl. Using a whisk, slowly mix the cold beer into the flour. Don't over mix, the odd little lump is okay.
Place the extra plain flour and a good sprinkle of salt in a medium bowl and the panko crumbs into another medium sized bowl. You should have three bowls (flour, batter, pank0). Line the three bowls up in a row with the plain flour first, the batter second, the crumbs last followed by a plate for the crumbed cauliflower pieces.
Toss a piece of cauliflower in the rice flour, dip into the batter ensuring the cauliflower is completely coated with the batter. Transfer to the crumb bowl and gently toss until evenly coasted in the crumb. Place on the plate and repeat with the remaining cauliflower. Tip: use one hand to dip the cauliflower into the batter and the other hand to toss in the bread crumbs that way you will keep the bread crumb hand dry and not covered in a sticky batter and bread crumb mess!
Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan ideally with a heavy base. When the oil is hot (about 180 degrees Celsius) you can start frying the cauliflower 3-4 pieces at a time. I suggest testing the oil first with a piece of bread or 1 piece of the cauliflower to see if you have it at the right temperature – it should brown in 1-2 minutes. Once the cauliflower pieces are all golden and crispy, remove from the oil with a slotted spoon of tongs and drain on paper towel. Repeat until all the cauliflower is cooked.
Gentry re-heat the teriyaki sauce. Combine the sauce and cauliflower in a mixing bowl until evenly coasted Alternatively your can drizzle the sauce over the cauliflower once served – up to you. If the cauliflower pieces are no longer hot by this point that's totally fine – as long as it's not cold.
Divide the sushi rice, cucumber, avocado and edamame among 4 serving bowls. Top with the cauliflower (and teriyaki sauce if your opted not to mix it through), pickled ginger, sesame seeds, crushed nori, mayo and spring onion. Dig in!