Crispy Korean Cauliflower with Sesame and Pickled Radish

Cauliflower is such a great vegetable for delivering flavour with it's sweet nutty taste and firm texture, it's a perfect choice for when you want to be meat free. Roasting it with a light batter gives it a lovely crispy texture and allows you to layer up more flavour.

I've made a Korean style sauce to spike the crispy cauliflower using Gochujang. This sauce is a classic combination of chilli paste with sesame, garlic, rice wine vinegar. And to balance those flavours with some sweetness, I've added some maple syrup.

The batter is very simple, essentially plain flour and water but the addition of rice flour really helps to give your batter a crispy texture.

Bring this dish together with some Japanese brown rice, pickled radish and for freshness, adding gem lettuce leaves and a few herbs. 

Prep time: 20 mins | Cooking Time: 60 mins (less if you use white rice)

Ingredients for 4
For the cauliflower and batter
1 large caulifllower, cut into big florets (or 2 small to medium sized ones)
120g plain flour
2 tablespoons rice flour
1 clove of garlic, finely grated
½tsp sea salt
Around 150ml cold water

For the sauce
3 tablespoons Hamadaya Japanese soy sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon gochujang
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated

The extras for the dish
300g Yumenishiki Japanese short grain brown rice
Shedletsky's Pickled Radish
Toasted sesame seeds
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 head of gem lettuce, leaves picked
Fresh mint and coriander

1. Pre heat your oven to 215°C

2. If you are using Japanese brown rice, this will need around 35 mins of cooking plus 20 minutes of soaking, so start by washing the rice in a couple of changes of cold water and then leave to soak for 20 minutes in cold water. Meanwhile measure out 600ml of water and bring it up to a simmer in a heavy saucepan or casserole dish - ready to cook the rice.

3. Divide your cauliflower into chunky florets and season with half a teaspoon of salt. Seasoning the cauliflower will start to draw out some moisture and help the batter stick.

4. In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the batter - plain flour, rice flour, garlic - don't add any further salt as you've already salted the cauliflower - then whisk in the water until you have a thick batter that will stick to the cauliflower and not slide off.

5. Once the rice has soaked for 20 minutes, drain from the soaking water and tip it into the simmering water. Turn the heat down to it's lowest setting, place a tight fitting lid on and cook gently for 35 minutes. You can do this a little ahead of time and after 35 minutes, just turn the heat off - don't open the lid - just leave it until you are ready to serve. It can be left for at least 20 minutes in the pot before serving.

6. Line a roasting tray with parchment paper.

7. Mix the cauliflower florets through your batter, making sure they are fully coated and place them on the roasting tray. Try to keep them a little apart as they will stick to each other if the batter touches, but don't get too anzious about this as any florets that have stuck to each other can be seperated using scissors. Place them at the top of your oven and roast for around 20 minutes, until the batter has gone golden brown.

8. Whilst the cauliflower roasts and the rice cooks, mix up the sauce. In a medium sized saucepan, add all the sauce ingredients, mix together, then on medium heat, bring the sticky mixture to the boil and simmer for just a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

9. Once the cauliflower is golden brown, remove from the oven. Allow it to cool slightly so you can remove them to a large bowl. Reserving three tablespoons of the sauce to drizzle over at the end, pour the remaining sauce over the cauliflower and mix it through to coat. Transfer the cauliflower back onto the roasting tray and cook for a further 10 minutes - the cauliflower will darken with a few charred edges.

10. Once the rice is cooked and the cauliflower is roasted it's time to plate up - pile on some rice and top with the crispy cauliflower. Sprinkle over some toasted sesame seeds and sliced spring onions, garnish with pickled radish, gem lettuce and the fresh herbs.

Enjoy! Foodies, don't forget to leave a review if you enjoyed making this at home, and tag us on your socials @somerset.foodie  Happy cooking. Ben 

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