You know that feeling when you just craving random foods? Yup, me too! So this time, it was a cauliflower. It came from nowhere and caught me off guard. Craving for cauliflower that is.
It's been ages since I've had cauliflower, and I'm still trying to figure out why. It's almost like sometimes, I forget about existence of certain foods, and then whenever I have it, I say to myself 'why the hell have you not been making this more often???'. Or perhaps it's due to my memory being like a sieve (or very selective as I like to call it sometimes).
Anyway, cravings came, they had to be dealt with. If you don't know, I like a bit extra heat in my food. So this time was different than any other. I wanted cauliflower with a bit of spice and stickiness to it. While visiting Asia earlier this year, I've been indulging in veg tempura on many occasions. And this was, once again, one of them (with a small difference in a climate!). My taste buds were demanding all of these things! So I did a bit of research, mixed few things here and there, and there it was...Spicy, sweet and sticky cauliflower in a light batter, full of flavors and yummyness.
OK, so it may not be the healthiest dinner option, as it's almost deep fried, but once in a while, when the cravings strike...You've gotta do what's right. I'm pretty sure that I will not forget about cauliflower for quite some time now! It was delicious, and my taste buds were never happier!
Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower (cut into small florets)
- 4-5 spring onions
- Vegetable oil for frying
Sauce:
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup tamari sauce
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 2 tablespoon peanut or sesame oil
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
Batter:
- ¾ cup spelt flour
- ⅔ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup cashew milk
Instructions
Sauce:
- Heat the peanut or sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat and add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a low boil; simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Cauliflower:
- Whisk all the batter ingredients until well combined. It needs to be thick enough to stick to cauliflower, but not too runny, adjust the thickness of batter by adding more/ less water.
- Pour vegetable oil into a deep frying pan, it needs to cover the cauliflower about halfway.
- Heat the oil over medium heat.
- Dip cauliflower florets in the batter and let the excess drip off gently setting in the oil. Fry for a few minutes on each side, then flip, repeating sides several times if necessary until you get a nice golden brown fried florets.
- Remove and set on a cooling rack lined with paper towels underneath.
- Let it cool slightly, then toss the fried cauliflower with the sauce (enough just to cover) and sprinkle with spring onions and sesame seeds. Serve with rice.
- Enjoy!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
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