Crispy General Tso's Cauliflower

Crispy General Tso's Cauliflower

A meatless version of General Tso's chicken, replacing the chicken with crispy fried pieces of cauliflower

Ingredients:

• canola oil for frying
• 1 medium cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
• egg whites from 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp vodka
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

for the sauce:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp dark brewed soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp granulated white sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 6 dried red chilis

Directions:

1.       In a small bowl, add egg whites and vodka and whisk together. In a medium bowl, add cornstarch and baking powder and whisk together.

2.       Dip and coat a cauliflower piece in egg whites and then lightly roll and cover in cornstarch. Set coated cauliflower aside and repeat with remaining cauliflower.

3.       In a pot being used for frying, add about 1 inch of oil to the pot. Bring oil to high heat. When oil is hot, lower heat to medium and then add a few cauliflower pieces. Let cauliflower cook a few minutes until a crispy coating forms over the cauliflower. The batter will not turn golden brown and will instead stay very pale, but you should see a pale crackly coating forming around the cauliflower and when you tap the cauliflower, you can feel the hard crispy shell. When cauliflower is crispy, remove from hot oil and place onto a paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess oil. Repeat with remaining cauliflower, frying in small batches.

4.       To make the sauce, add all ingredients except chili peppers into a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add sauce to a small saucepan. Bring sauce to a simmer and let it continue to simmer until thickened. Whisk every few seconds so that the cornstarch does not separate from the sauce and clump up while simmering. When sauce is thickened, add in chili peppers. Let the chili peppers simmer for about 30 seconds in sauce. Then remove sauce from heat.

5.       In a large skillet or wok, add cauliflower. Bring wok to medium heat. Pour sauce over cauliflower. Toss cauliflower until it is evenly coated in sauce and allow sauce to simmer for about 1-2 minutes until it thickens even more. Turn off heat. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and serve.

source : https://kirbiecravings.com

Tweet