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Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower. Cauliflower battered and baked and tossed in spicy kung pao sauce. Super hot Appetizer for gameday. Vegan Recipe. Can be gluten-free with gluten-free breadcrumbs. Double the kung pao sauce for larger cauliflower or to serve over rice.
Sundays are shaping up for only one thing these days, Gameday! And all that excitement and 4 hours of tv calls for delicious finger food.
These crispy kung pao cauliflower bites are just that, crispy, spicy, juicy, hot, and super fun. Bake the cauliflower, make the kung pao sauce. Arrange the cauliflower in one layer in a serving plate/bowl. Drizzle the sauce just before serving.
The dish can also be served with rice or other cooked grains. The recipe is for snack kung pao cauliflower bites. Double the sauce to serve over rice, or if you have a good large cauliflower head. The sauce can get hot depending on the chilies you use. Taste before drizzling over the cauliflower. If too hot, make another batch of the sauce without the chilies and mix. For a quick recipe, toss cauliflower in salt, cayenne and oil and bake until done, or cook in a pan with a splash of water until tender, then toss in the sauce. Serve with a jar of cold water. 🙂
Whats your favorite spicy gameday food?
More Asian recipes from the blog
- Massaman Curry Veggies GF
- Sweet and Sour chickpeas, broccoli and peppers. GF
- Celery Black Pepper tofu GF
- Kung Pao Lentils GF
- Lentils & Veggies in Thai Peanut Sauce GF
- Chickpeas in Firecracker sauce with crunchy salad. GF
- Crispy Orange Cauliflower. GF
Spicy Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower Recipe
Ingredients
For the Baked Crispy Cauliflower
- 5 tbsp corn starch , or other starch
- 6 tbsp bread crumbs, use gluten-free crumbs to make gf
- 5 tbsp or more water
- 1/2 tsp cayenne, use a 1/3 tsp for less heat
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp roasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
For the Kung Pao sauce:
- 1 tsp oil
- 8 to 10 dried red chilies, chinese red chilies, or arbol or cayenne, or use california red for less heat
- 1/2 tsp coarsely crushed sichuan peppercorns, or use a mix of coarsely crushed black pepper and red pepper flakes
- 2 to 3 tbsp chopped cashews or peanuts
- 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 2 tbsp scallions, chopped
Sauce mix
- 2.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce/tamari, use certified gluten-free sauce to make gf
- 1.5 to 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp chinese rice wine, optional
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water, use 1/2 cup for more sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Chop up the cauliflower and keep aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc. Mix the cornstarch breadcrumbs, and the rest of the ingredients to make a batter. Let the batter sit for 10 seconds to thicken if it isn't thick. The cornstarch continues to thicken the batter, so as soon as it is a good not too watery consistency, start dipping the cauliflower in the batter, tap to drop excess and place on parchment lined baking sheet. If the batter thickens too much while working, add a tsp or more water and mix in and continue.
- Bake for 30 minutes or longer until the florets are cooked through. Check with a toothpick/knife
- Meanwhile make the sauce. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the red chilies and peppercorns and cook until the red chilies are fragrant, but not overly brown, or someone starts sneezing. (For more heat, break some of the chilies into half and add to the skillet.)
- Add the nuts and mix for a few seconds. Add the ginger, garlic, reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until the garlic is golden. 4 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add in the scallions, and 2 to 3 tbsp finely chopped green peppers or other veggies if using and mix in. Increase heat to medium. Cook for a minute.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and add to the skillet. Continue to cook until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens slightly. 2 mins. Carefully taste and adjust salt, sweet and spice. If the sauce is not hot enough, break a few of the chilies open or add in red pepper flakes to taste and mix in.
- Arrange the baked cauliflower in a shallow bowl in one layer. When ready to serve, Drizzle the sauce over each floret. Serve.
- To store, store the baked cauliflower and sauce separately. Heat the sauce, pour over the florets. To serve with rice/cooked grains, double the sauce mix and bring to a boil to thicken, toss in the cauliflower and serve immediately over rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this over the weekend. All according to recipe (except for the sesame oil – allergic). It turned out perfect. No problems at all, and it was a big hit.
The sauce amount was good, but next time I’ll make double sauce, because it was just too tasty!
This is an amazing dish! I made it twice this past weekend. Once for a vegan yoga and potluck meet up. The second for a family brunch. Everyone loved it! Myself included.
I just made this and… wow! Delicious! So many other recipes are hit or miss, but every recipe I have made of yours has been a hit. Thank you so much, Richa.
Awesome!
Hi! I tried this twice and the first time, the batter did not cling to the cauliflower in cooking. I ended up with a glop of batter stuck to the side of the cauliflower that touched the pan. The second time, I just roasted the cauliflower with a sprinkle of olive oil and lots of black pepper. Tossed it in with the sauce and some edamame and red peppers … Delicious!
This is a fantastic recipe! loved it! one of the best baked cawliflower l’ve ever made! wow, thanks, Richa!
I made this recipe with a change in the batter part. Just used unbleached flour and not breadcrumbs with vegetable broth and used the rest of the ingredients as listed absolutely delicious. One of my favorite vegan meals.
Tried this recipe last weekend. Cauliflower tasted awesome!! Healthy way to make “Gobi Manchurian” I thought. The sauce was okay, lacked something tangy. I did not have Chinese rice wine though!!
Have you tried making sourdough bread or rye bread? Please do post if you are successful in making them in the future.
Hi Sahana, Great! You can add more rice vinegar to the rice wine, which also adds some of the tang. I was going for the kung pao flavor which is not the same as manchurian, is more hot and less tangy.
I have rye bread on the blog here https://fettabbau-trim.today/2013/04/rye-almond-sandwich-bread-and-burger.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thanks Richa!! Love all your creative cooking. Please do post few of the indian snacks that can be baked in an oven without deep frying like Chakkli, Sev or Ghatiya . I am yet to try your Moong Dal Samosa and Rosemary Crackers.
Yes. There are some in my cookbook like baked gobi amd cabbage manchurian, gobi 65, aloo bonda, kachori, baked medu vada etc.
Made this tonight and it was absolutely amazing- even better than Chinese restaurant food. Used California red peppers and it was just the right amount of spicy. A little time consuming to make, but totally worth the effort!
Awesome!
Made this for dinner last night and it was so spicy hot, neither my husband nor I could eat it! Most certainly removing the cayenne pepper from the recipe in the future! :0)
oh no. yes the dish can get hot depending on the cayenne and the chilies. Sometimes the dried red chilies end up being hotter than usual too and will add a load of heat to the dish instead of just a nice smoky low heat profile. You can make another batch of the sauce without the chilies and serve it over cold rice.