Crispy Gochujang Cauliflower

Breaded and sauce covered cauliflower in a bowl, with green onions on top.

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5 from 1 vote

Crispy Gochujang Cauliflower

Crispy, breaded fried cauliflower covered in a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce.

Prep Time20

Cook Time5

Total Time25

Course: Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: Korean Inspired

Servings:

Calories: 251kcal

Author: Jacqueline Piper

Ingredients

For the Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower cut into florets
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
1 cup cold water + 1 tablespoon
1 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs
oil for frying (about 1/2 cup depending on the size of your pan)

for the sauce

¼ cup Gochujang paste
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon oil to fry garlic
3 cloves garlic
sesame seeds to serve, optional

Instructions

Make the sauce. Combine all ingredients except garlic and the tablespoon of frying oil and stir to combine. Set aside.
Heat a small saucepan over medium and fry the garlic for 30-60 seconds. Carefully add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes. Keep warm until the cauliflower is done.
Make the batter. Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, and spices. Slowly add the cold water, while whisking. You may need a tablespoon or two more water.
Place panko in a separate bowl.
Add the cauliflower florets to the batter and stir, covering each florets completely in batter.
Bread the cauliflower. Designate one hand as a wet hand and one hand as a dry hand. Coat each cauliflower floret individually.
Use your wet hand to remove a batter floret from the bowl, and let excess batter drip off. Place the floret into the bowl of breadcrumbs. Use your dry hand to sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of the floret and then toss it around to coat it in breadcrumbs. Place it on a plate. Repeat for each remaining floret.
Fry the cauliflower. Heat oil in a large skillet, over about medium heat.
Fry the cauliflower in batches, depending on how much fits in your pan. Don't crowd the pan.
Add florets to the pan and fry about 2-3 minutes per side, flipping once. Some cauliflower florets seem to have three sides that need to be fried, while most only need to be fried on two sides. Make sure the whole floret is browned and crispy.
Set each fried floret on a cooling rack with a paper towel underneath it. Sprinkle immediately with a bit of kosher salt. Repeat for all florets.
Serve. You can serve the cauliflower as is, with the sauce to dip in, or you can coat the cauliflower in the sauce.
To coat the cauliflower add half of the sauce to a large bowl. Add the fried cauliflower and then the rest of the sauce. Either stir and toss the cauliflower to coat.

Video

Notes

This should be a thick batter similar to pancake batter.

Nutrition