Description
Sweet and spicy Gochujang Cauliflower, baked to crispy perfect and loaded into lettuce wraps for an easy and fun satisfying meal.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized cauliflowers, cut into 4 cups of golf ball sized florets
- High heat oil spray
Breading
- 1 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (or gluten-free panko)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
Batter
- 3/4 cup ap flour (or gluten-free ap flour)
- 1 cup almond milk or soy milk
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 vegan chicken bouillon cube, optional
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Sauce
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 medium navel orange (1/4 cup orange juice and 1 tbsp orange zest)
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced (whites and greens separated)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or 1/2 cup water and 1/2 a vegan chicken bouillon cube)
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Wraps, Optional
- 1 1/2 frozen edamame, thawed
- 1 serving block of vermicelli noodles, cooked
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. In one shallow bowl, combine all the batter ingredients and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine all the breading ingredients and mix together.
- Carefully dip the cauliflower florets into the batter to coat and shake off any excess. Place the battered cauliflower into the breading bowl, and with a clean hand coat the cauliflower on all sides then shake off excess and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining florets.
- Spray the cauliflower generously with some oil spray and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip, and roast for an additional 10 minutes until golden.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the gochujang, sweetener, soy sauce, vinegar, juice, zest, the white portion of the sliced scallions, vegetable broth, and garlic in a bowl. Combine the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water and whisk to create a slurry then set aside.
- Preheat a skillet over medium low heat and pour in the gochujang sauce and cornstarch slurry. Stir frequently until the sauce thickens and looks glossy. Pour the baked cauliflower in the sauce and toss together to coat. Serve immediately or to crisp back up, use tongs to place the cauliflower back on the baking tray and bake for an extra 5 minutes to crisp the cauliflower back up.
- Serve as is, or use them in lettuce wraps. To a lettuce leaf add some noodles, a spoonful of edamame, the cauliflower and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.
Notes
Add the gochujang sauce right before you serve. The sauce will cause the cauliflower to lose some of it’s crispiness over time. So don’t wait too long to eat your cauliflower after the sauce is added.
Re-crisp your cauliflower in the oven. After adding the sauce, you can place the cauliflower back on the baking tray and bake in the oven for a few minutes to keep the breading more crispy.
You can use the sauce as a dip. Instead of coating all the cauliflower in the cooked sauce, pour the sauce in a dipping bowl and dip the baked cauliflower pieces or drizzle the sauce over the cauliflower after making your wraps. This can help extend the crispiness of the cauliflower even more.
Adjust the spice to your liking. The orange juice in the recipe helps to reduce some of the heat in the gochujang. However, if you are sensitive to spice, start with 1 tablespoon of gochujang and taste before adding more.
