Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower Recipe

Sometimes there's nothing better than take-out Chinese food for a comforting, delicious, and filling meal, especially when you're short on time. Among the many dishes at American-style Chinese restaurants, the kung pao lineup of chicken, beef, or shrimp, with its fiery Sichuan chile sauce, red chile peppers, and peanut and scallion topping, is always a favorite.

There's no reason to forgo kung pao if you're not a meat eater. Chinese is one of the cuisines that is notably vegan-friendly. Some Chinese dishes are naturally vegan, but you can easily modify others to make them plant-based. I've created this kung pao cauliflower recipe to do just that. It has the important elements of the original recipe without the animal protein. Tofu would be a natural choice here, and it would provide more protein than cauliflower does, but it's not the only way to go for a vegan version.

Cauliflower is hearty enough to stand up as the main ingredient and goes really well with this spicy sauce. If you've had bad experiences with soggy, overboiled cauliflower before, don't despair. Once battered and roasted, the cruciferous vegetable transforms into a crispy, caramelized treat. You might want to eat it straight out of the oven, but you'd miss out on the magic that happens when you toss it with the sweet, acidic, and umami-forward sauce and the stir-fry featuring garlic, ginger, bell peppers, and the toasted heat of red chile peppers and black peppercorns. Keep this recipe in mind for a vegetarian Chinese dish that hits all the flavor marks.

For the battered and roasted cauliflower, you will need a medium head of cauliflower, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, vegetable oil, toasted sesame oil, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Grab some soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and more cornstarch for the stir fry sauce. The stir fry ingredients are vegetable oil, whole dried red chiles, black peppercorns, garlic, ginger, red or green bell peppers, shelled peanuts, and scallions. Finally, rice is an optional ingredient for serving.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cornstarch, flour, 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil, toasted sesame oil, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, and ⅓ cup water in a mixing bowl to make a batter. Let it sit for 30 seconds.

Add the cauliflower florets to the bowl and toss to coat them in the batter, adding 1-2 tablespoons of water if needed to loosen the batter enough to toss.

Remove the florets from the batter, letting excess batter drip off, and place them on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, flipping halfway, until tender and crispy.

Meanwhile, whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, and cornstarch together with ½ cup of water in a bowl or measuring cup. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet on medium.

Add the dried chile peppers and the black peppercorns and cook until fragrant, about 2-4 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add the bell peppers and saute for 8-10 minutes until tender.

Pour in the sauce and bring it to a boil. Let boil for 1-2 minutes until slightly thickened.

Add the cauliflower to the skillet and toss gently to coat it in the sauce.

Serve the kung pao cauliflower over rice, if desired, topped with peanuts and scallions.

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Kung pao recipes are known for their use of Sichuan peppercorns, a hallmark numbing and spicy ingredient of Sichuan cuisine – but they may not be easy to find. You can use them instead of the black peppercorns if you can source them. The whole Chile peppers make the dish spicy, but the heat isn't over the top. To make it a lot spicier, break up the chiles in the pan. While the chile peppers contribute to the dish's signature look, you can substitute ground cayenne pepper if needed.

The kung pao stir-fry sauce can vary depending on who makes it. To build the sauce, I've chosen soy sauce, maple syrup, and rice vinegar, but you can add other ingredients. Shaoxing wine, a Chinese rice wine used for cooking, would add a sweet and mellow flavor. You could use Chinese black vinegar instead of the pale rice vinegar to add bolder, more complex notes. Consider giving the sauce a citrus touch with orange zest and freshly squeezed orange juice. You can replace all or part of the water with the orange juice.

Make kung pao tofu by battering and roasting the tofu instead of cauliflower, or by pan frying it in oil until crispy. Finally, add red onions along with the bell pepper, or add your choice of vegetables — such as broccoli, water chestnuts, celery, and snap peas — for more color and nutrients.

You have plenty of options if you don't feel like roasting the cauliflower in the oven. You can air-fry the battered florets for 10-15 minutes at 400 F, flipping them halfway. Drip the florets extra well before placing them in the air fryer to make less of a mess, or use air fryer liners before laying down the pieces.

For the most decadent option, you can choose to deep-fry the cauliflower. It's not the lightest choice, but it's the top option for crispiness. Heat enough oil in a pot to cover the florets until it reaches 365 F. Fry a handful of battered florets at a time. They should only take 3-4 minutes to turn golden brown. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the temperature of the oil will drop too much, causing the cauliflower to absorb extra oil and get overly greasy. 

Pan-frying will give you crispy cauliflower without all of the oil of deep frying. To cut down on time in the pan, boil the florets for 3-4 minutes, rinse them to stop the cooking, and dry them. You don't need to batter them before cooking them with this method. Just heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy frying pan or skillet. Cut the florets in half if needed, so they have more flat surfaces. Let them cook in the pan undisturbed for 3-4 minutes until browned on the underside, and then flip and repeat.

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