Sticky, sweet, spicy, salty, sour goodness!

Sometimes in food photography, it can be really hard to capture the deliciousness of the food I am shooting. But in the case of this dish, I think the photo speaks for itself. You can practically taste the super crunchy crispy cauliflower and its sticky sweet chilli sauce. It's probably the easiest recipe I have shot so far. No trickery, carefully scattered herbs or fancy garnished required!

I am pretty much in love with this dish. Though it is rather rich and indulgent so I might need a little break from it after all the recipe testing! I can't take credit for coming up with the idea for this dish, although this specific recipe is my own. I have seen pictures of Korean fried cauliflower floating around the internet for a while and have been meaning to give it a go.

It was my mother-out-of-law (Che and I are not married so my Dad came up with this term) Jeanette's birthday and I was cooking my Ramen soup and though the cauliflower would be a perfect starter. I like to put myself through unnecessary pressure so often make the mistake of testing out recipes when I am cooking for lots of people rather than sensibly just for myself! Luckily in this case it worked out! Though I seriously need to stop doing that....

I have made a a few tweaks since my original recipe and am now super dooper happy with this recipe. I can't believe how crunchy the cauliflower is. Even after sitting out whilst I took photos, it still didn't loose any of it's crispness. I think the trick is both battering it in beer batter and than coating it in panko bread crumbs so it has double the crunchy coating! Yum.

Now if anyone is scared I of deep-frying, you can of course bake this instead. But I urge you to give this method a go! It's not that hard to get the batter right and eating something deep fried every once in a while is totally okay in by book! Now get cooking and enjoy this with some friends over some nice cold beers or cocktails. And if you are in lockdown like so many of us here in Australia, enjoy this over a zoom catch up and make all your friends jealous!

Korean Sticky Chilli Cauliflower Bites

Prep time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4 people as a shared starter

Dietary guide: This recipe is vegan. For a Gluten Free and FODMAP friendly adaptation see the end of the recipe.

Ingredients

About 1/2 a cauliflower (around 400g) cut into bite sized florets

1/3 of a cup of chopped green spring onion

2 tablespoons of toasted white sesame seeds

1 large green chilli finely sliced

¼ cup of chopped fresh coriander

1 fresh lime cut into wedges

700ml of vegetable oil for frying

For the sauce

1 tablespoon of Korean chilli paste (gochujang) or more if you like it hot

¼ cup of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon of tomato paste paste

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

¼ cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of sake or rice cooking wine

2 teaspoons of corn flour

1 medium garlic clove

1 teaspoon of salt

1 small golden shallot finely chopped

½ cup water

½ tea garlic powder

1 teaspoon of celery salt

For the crispy coating

½ cup of corn flour

½ cup plain flour (plus an extra ¼ cups for dusting the cauliflower)

1 cup of cold beer or soda water or plain water

½ a teaspoons of baking powder

2 cups of panko bread crumbs

Method

First make the chilli sauce. Grind the garlic clove and salt into a rough paste in a mortar and pestle. Add to a small sacuepan along with all the rest of the sauce ingredients. Mix well and bring to the boil. Cook stirring often until it has reduced to a nice thick sticky sauce (about 5-10 minutes) – add more water if you reduce it too much. Take of the heat until needed.
Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan or deep fryer whilst you make the batter. 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. Line the three bowls up in a row; the extra plain flour first, the batter second, the crumbs last followed by a plate to rest the the crumbed cauliflower pieces on.
Toss a piece of cauliflower in the plain 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!
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.
Briefly reheat the sauce and pour into a large mixing bowl along with the sesame seeds, spring onion and coriander (reserve a little of each for garnish). Add the fried cauliflow pieces and toss well until the cauliflower is evenly coasted in the sauce – I find a rubber spatula the best for the job.
Pour out onto a large platter, top with sliced chilli and remaining garnishes and serve with fresh lime slices. Best eaten straight away, though it will stay surprisingly crispy for hours. Enjoy with a nice gold beverage!

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

FODMAP friendly version: 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 with rice flour and the breadcrumbs with gluten free or sour dough bread crumbs.