Just when you thought Chinese food was off-limits, I give you Crispy Orange Cauliflower. Yes, you heard me correctly. What looks like chicken is actually cauliflower…
Proof as to why I am a better cook than baker. Cooking comes a lot more naturally for me–I am more at ease in finding my way around my spice rack than I ever am at baking a cake. There’s something so relaxing to me about chopping up vegetables, mincing garlic and figuring out which flavors I am missing in my dish. You could say cooking is a way for me to put my thoughts in a more clearer state of mind.
I do a lot of baking on Fork & Beans because I have always been afraid of it. Some of you might be asking yourselves why someone would spend so much time with their fears. Don’t ask me why, it’s just what I do. Though my baking fears have subsided througout the past year and a half when I first started, it still exhausts me at times. Emotionally and physically.
- Crispy Orange CauliflowerPrep timeCook timeTotal timeServes: Serves 2Ingredients
- 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets (or a package of pre-cut cauliflower)
For Flour Mixture:- 1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 2 Tb water, allow to sit until thickens
- ⅓ c. water
- ⅓ c. corn starch
- ¼ c. gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp. oil
For the Base:- 2 Tbsp. oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and zested
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
For the Orange sauce:- 1 tsp. oil
- zest of 1 orange + juice of orange
- 2 Tbsp. gluten-free soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- .1/4 c. orange juice
- 1 tsp. corn starch
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
Instructions- Whisk together the flour mixture until a nice batter is formed (shouldn't be too thick: think waffle batter consistency).
- Heat up a skillet with ½ c. oil on medium/high heat. Make sure it has been properly heated.
- Dip each small floret into the batter until covered. Fry in oil until completely browned and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- In a clean skillet, heat the oil and garlic for 1 minute. Add green onions, zest and juice. Cook another 1 minute. Add soy sauce and vinegar and bring to a boil. Toss in crispy cauliflower into the skillet and coat thoroughly.
- Plate on a bed of rice
- In that same skillet, throw in the remainder ingredients for the Orange Sauce and bring to a boil for just 1 minute, stirring constantly. Drizzle over orange cauliflower and rice.
Hi Cara, I love the sound of this. There is an amazing Indo Chinese cauliflower dish similar to this at one of my favourite Indian restaurants and I’ve been wanting to try and re creative it for a while. This has inspired me!
Niki
How deliciously appealing! Sounds and looks amazing!
I love this!!!
I’m never frying anything ever again! House full of smoke, stained my pan, messy! Haha no but, this recipe was delicious. I made the orange sauce kinda backwards but it still tasted good. I loved the blackened parts of the cauliflower, they were so crispy! Great recipe but I won’t make it again cuz of the frying process.
Brilliant idea! And so good. After a few splatter burns, I got the hang of it and it turned out better than expected.
Def planning to use this for my vegetarian friends at dinner parties from now on!
haha, The splatters are the worst aren’t they? I think I have gotten so used to the pain that I don’t feel them anymore
Glad you loved this!
Hi, is there an alternative to soy sauce I can use? My little girl is dairy & soy intolerant but now wants to try everything we eat.
Oh and cooked your cauliflower risotto tonight, it was delIcious! Thank u
Bec, both my daughter and I have gluten issues and cannot use soy sauce. We use Bragg’s amino acids. It is a good replacement for us.
Braggs is gluten-free but made with soy. You could try to find coconut aminos by a brand called Coconut Secret (https://www.coconutsecret.com/aminos2.html); the flavor is slightly different but it’s a good replacement and probably would go really well with this sauce.
Thank you for that, Will!
+1 to the coconut aminos. I use them all the time in place of soy sauce. Works like a charm.
I just made this and it is amazing! thanks for the recipe. I will be making it again
I am in weight watchers and would love to try this recipe but I can’t really afford the points it would take to fry it. Would baking them work and if so, how long and what temp would you recommend? Thank you!
What can I use instead of Cara’s gluten-free flour blend? Regular bread crumbs? Thanks
Bread crumbs, regular flour, panko crumbs, etc. All work!
This was THE BOMB!! I doubled the recipe..twice!..to make sure our family had enough..this will definitely be made again and again in our house..thanks for the recipe!..HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
It’s one of my favorite recipes, Karen. I am so happy that you loved it! xo
Just made this tonight. It was wonderful. I can’t believe how quickly it all came together. Served over short-grain brown rice, absolutely delicious. Thanks!
YAY! It’s one of my favorites. Glad you liked it too
can i use a real egg in the batter besides flax egg mixtre?
Assuming that is to help things stick and bind together.
Thanks/
Sounded so wonderful…and it was actually quite tasty, but for some reason my cauliflower didn’t turn out. All of the breading stuck to the bottom of my pan and came off of the florets. I ended up with big chunks of breading (after scraping it off the pan) and naked florets. Any idea why this happened? I kept the heat at medium and used raw, unpasturized coconut oil.
Aw bummer, Danielle–so sorry to hear!
The only 2 things I can think of as to why the breading stuck to your pan is because 1). There wasn’t enough oil in the pan, and 2). It wasn’t hot enough. Hope that helps and better luck next time, for reals! xo
Thank you for taking the time to reply! I will definitely try again
xo right back at ya!
You are so welcome, it’s my pleasure! I just wish I could be more of a help…
Can you bake this instead of frying? What temp and for how long?
hey lisa,
I tried baking at 450, and LIGHTLY tossing cauliflower ( I also added broccoli) in the batter. I sprayed the baking sheet with some cooking spray. cooked for around 20 minutes while I cooked up the sauce and did the dishes. Didn’t come out super crunchy but there was a great crisp on the bottom where the pieces touched the pan. All in all I loved it! (never been a huge fan of super crispy fried things anyways)
I made a version of this, and it was OUTSTANDING. My cauliflower hating husband stated it looked so good that he would try it and also liked it! From a meat and potatoes vegetable hating guy that certainly is a pretty big compliment. Here is my version (not gluten free). http://www.theveganversion.com/2013/11/orange-cauliflower.html
Eeeeeee–best news ever! SO glad you liked it and thank you for the comment
is there is sub for the brown sugar,….?? can you use maple? or honey? or…???
I think honey would probably taste best but yes, any sub for sugar would work really…
When I made this, the sauce made everything quite mushy. The taste was amazing and would like to try it again… any advice???
This recipe looked phenomenal, so of course, I had to try and see if it tasted as good as it looked. IT DID! My meat-eating parents said it tasted better than crispy, orange chicken. Thanks for the share!
Wowee this looks soo good, gonna make this next week, see if I can even get the husband to enjoy cauliflower
thanks for sharing!!
Oh man, I used to love the flavor of orange chicken, but haven’t had it in over 4 years since I became a vegetarian. Thank you for making it possible for me to enjoy that flavor again!
NOOOO! I am going through all the posts I have yet to read and one is more delicious than the next! You’re killin’ me, Cara! LOVE your work!
Where is the recipe for this?? I can’t find it anywhere!! It looks so good..
Hi Cori! The recipe is located towards the bottom in a link to a guest post I did for another blogger. Here it is: http://www.veganricha.com/2013/04/caras-crispy-orange-cauliflower-vegan.html
I love this recipe! I included it on my blog:
http://blog.shopdirtylaundry.com/posts/2013/4/5/61-the-dirty.html
ENJOY!
Thank you for the love, Jeanee. By the way, what a beautiful blog you have!! xo
I think you are the ultimate ratbag for besting my sesame orange seitan….
http://vedgedout.com/2013/03/14/meaty-cravings/
Yup, BESTED I say! xx
You and your big words
OK, made this last night for my birthday dinner!! It was freaking perfect!!! My non-vegan husband even loved it!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Eeeeee! So happy that you immediately tried it and liked it. It’s rather amazing what cauliflower can do, isn’t it? Hope you had an awesome birthday, Cara! (great name, too)
Um, this looks so amazing. Off to check out the recipe now.
It tastes as amazing as it looks too, Beth…