Recipe General Tso's Cauliflower

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I am always on the lookout for lighter ways to prepare food. I know that I can make cauliflower with a sauce that tastes like a General Tso's sauce, but I really wanted to make a coating that is like that typically found on a General Tso's Chicken. And, I wanted to avoid frying.

So, I made a batter that would have worked quite well for a deep fried method, but I baked it in the oven. The results were very good.

The sauce didn't turn out to be the usual dark General Tso's sauce the first time round, and it was because of cold-mixing the sauce: the cornstarch thickened properly when heat was applied, so I've updated the image to show the final result.

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower

Batter

3⁄4 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 eggs
1 Tbsp rice vinegar

Sauce

1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 Tbsp sugar
1 small jalapeño pepper, diced
1 Tbsp ginger root, grated
3 medium clove garlic cloves, grated
1 oz mirin
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp red onion
T Tbsp cornstarch


Directions

1. Blend the dry Batter ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Whisk the liquid Batter ingredients together in another bowl.

2. Gradually whisk the wet ingredients together with the dry ingredients. The mixture should be thick, but still thin enough to allow the cauliflower to be dipped. Add water if needed. Allow to rest for 15 minutes to allow the components to integrate.

3. Break cauliflower florets into chunks of about the same size. Brush a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of oil. Dip cauliflower pieces, shaking off any excess, and place on the baking sheet.

4. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

5. While the cauliflower bakes, mix the sauce ingredients. Heat them in a pan with the temperature on low, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Pour over cauliflower nuggets and serve over white rice.

6. Store cauliflower separately from sauce to keep the nuggets from getting soggy.

 

[TodayInTheKitchen]

What an absolutely great idea - Baked "fried" cauliflower.