Salt & Pepper Cauliflower

If your looking for a new way to cook cauliflower this recipe is sure to surprise and delight! Battered and fried cauliflower is tossed with peppers and lots of garlic and warm seasonings to create a flavor bomb! The crispy exterior is light and crunchy and the fresh peppers add a subtle heat.

I usually avoid frying food in my kitchen, but this dish reminds me that it’s not actually that hard or messy! I do more of a shallow fry than a deep fry—filling a large cast-iron skillet with about 2 inches of oil. That keeps the splatter to a minimum and also minimizes the quantity of oil you need to use.

The best part is the topping of stir-fried chiles, ginger, and garlic tossed with spices, kosher salt and white pepper.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Most of the ingredients for this dish are things you’ll find at your regular supermarket, otherwise, I offer easy substitutions.

• Cauliflower: You can chop your own heads or buy pre-cut bags.
• Ginger: I highly recommend fresh chopped ginger.
• Garlic: Use freshly minced garlic cloves .
• Rice Flour: You could swap for potato flour or cornstarch
• Oil: Use any neutral-flavored, high-smoke-point oil like safflower, sunflower seed, peanut, corn, canola, or vegetable oil.
• Peppers: I prefer Jalapeno peppers but you could substitute any Red or green chile peppers like serrano, Fresno, Jalapeno If you don’t want the dish to be spicy, take the seeds and ribs out of your peppers or just use green or red bell pepper instead

Print Recipe

Salt & Pepper Cauliflower

Author: savoryfoodtrail.com Cooking Method: Pan fry Cuisine: American, Chinese Courses: Appetizer Recipe Keys: Quick Meals Vegan Vegetarian Meals

Difficulty: Intermediate Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 23 mins Total Time 33 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

Servings

Batter Ingredients

• 1 cup Rice flour
• 2 cup Water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp White pepper (ground)

Frying Ingredients

• 2 Small Cauliflower heads (chopped into flourets)
• 2 tbsp Ginger (minced)
• 4 clove Garlic (minced)
• ¹⁄₂ Red bell pepper (finely diced)
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers (finely diced)
• 3 tbsp Green onions (sliced)
• 2 cup Vegetable oil (for frying)
• 1 tbsp Chinese five spice (ground)
• 1 tsp White pepper (ground)

Instructions

1. Prep for Battering

   In a medium size mixing bowl combine rice flour, water, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

   Chop cauliflower into pieces of florets.  

2. Frying

   In a large cast iron or non stick pan add oil and bring to 350 degrees.

   Dip cauliflower into batter until completely coated and add to hot pan. Depending on the size of your pan you can cook 5-10 pieces, but don’t crowd the skillet. Plan to cook 2 or 3 batches. Cook for about 8 -10 minutes, turning occasionally to get a browning on all sides. When golden brown, transfer the cauliflower pieces to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. 

    

3. Chili topping

   Drain most the oil from your pan leaving enough for a tin coat. 

   Add in your garlic, ginger, peppers, green onions and seasonings. Fry quickly until fragrant being careful not to burn the garlic. 

   In a large bowl add your fried cauliflower, and cooked chili topping. Toss together until well coated. Serve hot

Keywords: Cauliflower, Salt and Pepper Cauliflower