This Korean Gochujang Cauliflower is one of my favourite recipes and ways to cook & enjoy cauliflower.
THE INSPIRATION: KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN
This recipe is inspired by Korean Fried Chicken or Dak Gangjeong that have taken the Philippines by storm. They’re distinct for their sweet, sticky glaze that I really love.
I also really love cauliflower but the funny thing is, I only really enjoy them coated in a batter with a good crispy exterior and either baked or fried to a crisp–usually in the form of these cauliflower ‘wings’, fritters, or balls!
These Korean Gochujang Cauliflower are crispy cauliflower coated in a slightly spicy and sweet glaze!
GOCHUJANG OR KOREAN CHILI PASTE
I used gochujang and I love its mild spice and really rich, umami flavour. It gives so much depth to a lot of recipes and is a staple in Korean cuisine.
This vegan recipe is packed full of flavour and super satisfying.
THE GOCHUJANG-BASED SAUCE
The sauce is a balance between spicy, sweet, and savoury. You can of course adjust to your taste! Here’s what you’ll need:
- gochujang (korean chili paste) adjust depending on desired spice
- room temperature water
- maple syrup or other liquid sweetener, adjust according to desired sweetness
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar
- minced garlic
- cornstarch, this will help thicken the sauce
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION
Since the flour is used for the batter, you can substitute it with other types of flour to create the mix. If you’re gluten-free, you can use GF flour mixes of your choice.
For the breadcrumbs, you can opt to use GF bread crumbs or even desiccated coconut. If using coconut, do note that it’ll have a slight coconut-taste. Another good option for coating in replacement of bread crumbs are hemp hearts, which turn out really nutty and have that nice bite!
PREPARING THE CAULIFLOWER FLORETS
You start of with (of course) some cauliflower florets and coat them in the batter.
From the batter, you then coat them with breadcrumbs.
I fried the cauliflower until crisp throughout before coating it in the sauce.
Golden brown and crisp pieces of cauliflower!
COOKING THE SAUCE
The sauce will thicken into a glaze consistency due to the corn starch.
So you can either use this as a sauce and coat the cauliflower in it, or use it as a dip and serve it alongside the crispy cauliflower.
Check out the recipe video below!
These cauliflower are delicious as is or paired with some rice or noodles! Enjoy!
Take a bite and enjoy!
OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Check out my other cauliflower recipes here.
- “Beef” Bulgogi Bowls
- Spicy “Pork” Stir-Fry
- Vegan Kimchi
- Korean Beansprout Salad
- Bibim Guksu (Korean Mixed Noodles)
- Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
- Kimchi Noodle Soup with Dumplings
Are you looking for more delicious, vegan recipes?
You can get a copy of my upcoming cookbook, Vegan Asian!
If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!
If you make this recipe, please tag me on my Facebook or Instagram and use the hashtag #thefoodietakesflight 🙂
Korean Gochujang Cauliflower
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp gochujang (korean chili paste) adjust depending on desired spice
- 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
Cauliflower
- 1 lb raw cauliflower florets , from 1 medium head
- Neutral oil for frying
- Sesame seeds and chopped green onions for topping
Batter
- 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
Coating
- 1-2 cups breadcrumbs adjust as needed
Instructions
- Sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Feel free to adjust to your desired taste.
- For the batter: In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the batter until it turns into a smooth, thick consistency.
- For the coating: In another bowl or plate, add in the bread crumbs.
- One 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).
- Press down the bread crumbs on the cauliflower. Set aside once coated.
- Repeat this for the rest of the florets until all are coated.
- (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.
- Once golden brown, set aside on a strainer to drain excess oil or you can put this on a plate with paper towels.
- Remove 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.
- Once 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.
- Enjoy while hot! Garnish with some sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.
Baking option
- Heat 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.
WATCH Video
Notes
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION
- Since the flour is used here for the batter, you can substitute it with other types of flour to create the mix. If you’re gluten-free, you can use GF flour mixes of your choice.
- For the breadcrumbs, you can opt to use GF bread crumbs or even desiccated coconut. If using coconut, do note that it’ll have a slight coconut-taste. Another good option for coating in replacement of bread crumbs are hemp hearts, which turn out really nutty and have that nice bite!
Sauce as a glaze or dip
- You can also opt to enjoy the sauce as a dip by serving the crispy cauliflower as is.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 21 Comments
Absolutely delicious. Planning on making this again and again!
Hi Madison, glad you enjoyed these ◡̈ thank you for your review, I really appreciate it!!
This was so so good! My boyfriend and I adored it.
Thanks so much Jessica ◡̈ glad you enjoyed it
Hi Jeeca,
I just made these but with gluten free flour and breadcrumbs and baked in the air fryer. Next time I might try frying them. The sauce is yummy. I have extra sauce leftover. Is there any recipe or dish I can use it in so I don’t waste it?
Hi Karen! For the sauce, you can cook some tofu and pan-fry these to a crisp then mix in/dip them into the sauce. You can opt to just pan fry the tofu as is or coat them with some starch, same with how I prepare my tofu in my kung pao tofu recipe: https://thefoodietakesflight.com/vegan-kung-pao-tofu/
Hope this helps! ◡̈
I tweaked the sauce a little bit just to my liking, but overall it’s really delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Dana!! ◡̈
I love this sauce so much. I know people say gochujang is “mildly spicy’, but not for me, so I appreciate the Ketchup addition! It is not too sweet and not too spicy. It is perfect! Thank you so much.
I’m not really a good cook but this recipe is one of my favourites to make !
Easy and tasty
I’ve also tried other recipes from you and they’re all amazing!
Thanks so much for creating and sharing them !
Thank you so much Melody!
I was so happy with how the crispy cauliflower turned out (I used the air fryer) and the sauce was delicious, can’t wait to make this again!
Happy to hear you liked it!! Thanks Hannah ◡̈
So good! My boyfriend and I made this together and we both loved it! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thank you Rosie! So happy you both enjoyed it! ◡̈
Did you use panko bread crumbs?
Yes I did ◡̈
I’ve been on an Asian kick lately. I’m also a big meat eater. I have to say, I ran across this recipe and had to try it. It was great. Next time I’m making it with chicken, but doing it with cauliflower will happen again. Thanks for broadening my horizons.
So glad you gave this a try with cauliflower! Thanks Erik! ◡̈
Hi, I really enjoyed these but the cauliflower immediately lost its crispness once in the warm sauce in the pan. I used the bake method. Is there something I can do to prevent this?
Hi Yein, this is normal since the coating will immediately soak the sauce. You can opt to use the sauce as a dip instead to keep the cauliflower crisp. You can also reheat the cauliflower (mixed in the sauce) in your oven to get it a bit more crisp even after coating. Hope this helps! ◡̈