Korean Gochujang Cauliflower

These are coated & battered cauliflower cooked to a crisp coated in a spicy and slightly sweet glaze! The cauliflower can either be baked or fried.

📝 Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp gochujang (korean chili paste)
• 1/2 cup room temperature water
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener, adjust according to desired sweetness)
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar (or distilled white vinegar)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 lb raw cauliflower florets (, from 1 medium head)
• Neutral oil (for frying)
• Sesame seeds and chopped green onions (for topping)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (or sub other flour (see notes))
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 cup room temperature water
• 1-2 cups breadcrumbs (adjust as needed)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Feel free to adjust to your desired taste.
2. 2For the batter: In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the batter until it turns into a smooth, thick consistency.
3. 3For the coating: In another bowl or plate, add in the bread crumbs.
4. 4One by one, dip each cauliflower in the batter and transfer into the breadcrumbs. Coat well using one hand (this is to avoid messy hands—I usually use one hand for dry and one hand for wet when coating cauliflower).
5. 5Press down the bread crumbs on the cauliflower. Set aside once coated.
6. 6Repeat this for the rest of the florets until all are coated.
7. 7(Baking option below)Heat a frying pan with enough oil to submerge at least half of the cauliflowers. You can test out the heat of the oil by placing some bread crumbs. If it bubbles and is hot, place the cauliflower florets and cook until golden brown, moving it around on each side every 2 minutes or so.
8. 8Once golden brown, set aside on a strainer to drain excess oil or you can put this on a plate with paper towels.
9. 9Remove the oil from the pan. In the same pan, place heat over medium. Give the sauce another good mix to make sure the starch doesn't stick at the bottom.Add in the sauce and leave to simmer over medium heat, mixing constantly until it thickens, around 2 to 3 minutes.
10. 10Once the sauce thickens, lower the heat and place the fried/baked cauliflower. Mix to coat in the sauce. I highly recommend to add the cauliflower into the sauce when you're about to eat your cauliflower since they will get soggy and not be as crispy as time passes.I often like to only coat half of the florets in the sauce and leave the rest as is and dip it in the sauce when ready to enjoy.*Another option: You can also opt to enjoy the sauce as a dip.
11. 11Enjoy while hot! Garnish with some sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.
12. 12--- Baking option ---
13. 13Heat oven to 350F. Bake the cauliflower for 35-40 minutes or until crisp. I recommend brushing these with some oil.Flip halfway through cooking. Note that these will of course not turn as golden brown as when fried, but still crisp.