Fried Cauliflower Karaage 唐揚げカリフラワー
This vegetarian Fried Cauliflower recipe takes its inspiration from the popular Japanese classic dish chicken Karaage. Cauliflower marinated in soy sauce and sake is a great stand-in for chicken.
- 2 cups Cauliflower florets (* or 7oz/200g)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (*1)
- 1 tbsp sake (*2)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder (*3)
- ¼ tsp ginger powder (*4)
- a pinch salt
- a pinch pepper
- shiso leaves to garnish (optional) (*5)
- Wash and cut cauliflower to make the florets look like chunky chicken pieces.
- Remove excess water by patting cauliflower florets with paper kitchen towels.
- Place soy sauce, sake, garlic powder, ginger powder and salt and pepper into a ziplock bag.
- Add the cut cauliflower florets into the ziplock bag. Zip the bag and toss the florets inside the bag so that the marinade covers florets evenly.
- Marinate the florets for 15-20 minutes.
- Place potato starch in a separate ziplock bag. Drop marinated cauliflower florets and toss them around to coat them with potato starch
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan over high heat or set deep fryer to around 365°F(185°C) and deep fry cauliflower florets pieces in batches until golden brown.
- Drain cooked cauliflower florets on a paper towel.
- Garnish with shiso leaves. (garnish is optional)
- Serve with small bowl of Japanese mayonnaise sprinkled with shichimi togarashi.
What is Fried Cauliflower Karaage?
Fried Cauliflower Karaage is cauliflower florets marinated in soy sauce, sake, garlic powder, and ginger powder, coated with potato starch flour then deep fried in vegetable oil, just like Karaage chicken.
Why you will love Cauliflower Karaage?
Deep fried cauliflower florets mimic the chicken meat and look like and have a similar texture to karaage chicken.
It is a very simple and easy Japanese side dish recipe.
Apart from soy sauce and sake, you can get all the ingredients easily from your local groceries.
Because the cauliflower is marinated, you don’t need to make the hot sauce separately. Just serve with Japanese mayonnaise with Shichimi Togarashi (7 spices chilli powder) sprinkle.
Fried Cauliflower Karaage Ingredients
The Step By Step Procedure For Making Cauliflower Karaage
1. Wash and cut cauliflower to make the florets looks like chunky chicken pieces. (see photo 1)
2. Remove excess water by patting dry with a kitchen paper towel.
3. Place the soy sauce, sake, garlic powder, ginger powder, and salt and pepper into a ziplock bag. (see photo 2)
4. Put the cut cauliflower florets into the ziplock bag. Zip the bag and toss the florets inside the bag so that the marinade covers the florets evenly. (see photo 3)
5. Marinate the florets for 15 – 20 minutes. (see photo 4)
6. Place the potato starch into a separate ziplock bag. Drop the marinated cauliflower florets in with the potato starch and toss them around to coat them evenly. Shake off any excess flour mixture. (See photo 5 -8)
7. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over high heat or in a deep fryer to around 365°F (185°C) and deep fry cauliflower florets pieces in batches until golden brown. (see photo 9 & 10))
8. Drain each of the cooked batches on a baking sheet covered with paper towels (see photo 11)
9. Garnish with Shiso leaves.
10. Serve with a small bowl of Japanese mayonnaise sprinkled with shichimi togarashi.
Tips to make Fried Cauliflower Karaage
Remove the excess moisture with paper towels, so that the marinate will not be diluted.
Use ziplock bags to marinate and coat with potato starch and just discard the bags. No washing up!
Is Deep fried cauliflower healthy?
The short answer is no, however, it is half healthy because you are using a healthy vegetable.
What kind of flour (wheat, tapioca, chickpea, rice, etc.) makes the best coating for frying cauliflower?
I usually use potato starch flour to deep fry Karaage, but if you don’t have potato starch then cornstarch can be used as a substitute for the potato starch.
What substitutes can I use for soy sauce and sake?
Soy sauce can be substituted with coconut aminos, and sake can be substituted with Chinese wine or dry sherry. More Japanese ingredients substitution in this post.
