Salt and Pepper Cauliflower 椒鹽菜花 (jiāo yán cài huā) is a deep-fried cauliflower dish that is stir-fried in salt, pepper, garlic and chilies. It’s not a well-known dish. As a matter of fact, I’ve never seen it on a Chinese menu. Some western restaurants on the other hand, have deep-fried cauliflower as an appetizer. They're often coated with garlic, soy sauce and honey. My son says it’s the best vegetable dish ever! I guess anything deep-fried tastes better!
I actually quite like cauliflower. It’s sweet and meaty with not a lot of water content which makes it perfect for frying, deep-frying I mean. I like to stir-fry with it too, but deep-fried cauliflower is the best, hands-down!
Some of you are going to wonder if air-frying will work for this recipe. Well, it’s yes and no. Yes, you can do it but no, it won't taste the same. I tried with my air-fryer and I sprayed it with some coconut oil. I didn’t like the result. It was hard, crunchy and dry. Deep-frying tastes much better. The batter was light and crispy. The cauliflower was moist and tender on the inside.
Besides cauliflower, you can use brussel sprouts or asparagus for this recipe too. You can also substitute the salt, garlic, pepper and chilies with salt, honey and garlic to a sweet version of this dish. My family likes the savoury one over the honey garlic one.
In my Salt and Pepper Cauliflower 椒鹽菜花 recipe, I’ll show you how to make this delicious crispy dish in 30 minutes. It’s perfect with rice or congee or as an appetizer on its own. In all seriousness, it was so good that I could finish a whole cauliflower on my own!
Looking for more veggie recipes? I highly recommend my Dry-Fried Green Beans 乾煸四季豆 or another easy one is my Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry 西蘭花炒牛肉.
Salt and Pepper Cauliflower 椒鹽菜花
Ingredients
- 400 g Cauliflower (approx. 1 whole cauliflower)
- 1 Large egg
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Garlic powder
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 100 g Corn starch
- 600 ml Oil for deep frying
- 2 tbsp Chopped garlic (approx. 5 cloves)
- 1 stalk Green onions , chopped
- ½ Jalapeno pepper , diced
- 1 Thai chili , diced
- 3 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for seasoning salt:
- ¼ tsp Garlic powder
- ½ tsp Chicken broth powder
- ¾ tsp Sugar
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp White pepper powder
- 1/8 tsp Black pepper powder
Instructions
- Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces
- Beat 1 large egg in a large mixing bowl
- Add 1 tbsp light soy sauce, ¼ tsp garlic powder and ¼ tsp white pepper powder. Mix well
- Toss the cauliflower in the egg mixture until well coated
- Add 100 g corn starch. Toss until well coated. Arrange in single layer and set aside
- Chop garlic, green onions, mince jalapenos and chilies.
- Make seasoning salt by combining ¼ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp chicken broth powder, ¾ tsp sugar, ¾ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp white pepper powder, and 1/8 tsp black pepper powder. Mix well
- Heat 600 ml oil to 160˚C or 325˚F
- Fry cauliflower for 3 minutes or until lightly golden in color. Do not overcrowd the pot. Fry in a few batches if necessary
- Remove from oil and let rest on a cooling rack
- Fry a second time at 200˚C or 400˚F for 1 minute or until golden color. Rest on cooling rack
Overcrowding is fine during second fry - In a wok or pan, add 3 tbsp oil. Use medium high heat
- Fry garlic, jalapenos, chilis
- Add the green onions and seasoning salt to the garlic and chilies. Mix well
- Add the fried cauliflower, mix well
- Turn off heat. Plate and serve
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