General Tso’s Cauliflower

General Tso’s Cauliflower is so delicious (although a bit naughty)

Nutritious cauliflower coated in batter and then fried until crispy and then smothered in a yummy Asian inspired sauce.

We first experienced General Tso’s when we lived in Canada (before kids) and took a few holidays to different cities in the US.

When I first started seeing General Tso’s copycat recipes starting to pop up all over the internet I was so excited, now I could create a Sugar Free, vegetarian version of General Tso’s Chicken.

It took a few tweaks from a few different recipes, but the result was something the whole family loved.

General Tso’s Cauliflower is for when you feel like something a little bit naughty but still has a little bit of nutrition (cauliflower) at the same time, it’s not something I would recommend eating on a regular basis due to the frying. I will make a baked version of this at some point, just to make it a lot healthier!

If you have not tried cauliflower like this before I think you will be amazed at how yummy it is, if anyone had told me 5 years ago that the main component of the dish was cauliflower I would have been like WHAT!!!! And that’s what you may be thinking, but give it a go it’s delicious.

You do need a bit of time for this recipe, so maybe save it for a weekend.

Try more delicious sugar free meals like these.

If you want to find out more about the wonderful benefits of cauliflower check out this awesome article all about Science-Backed Health Benefits of Cauliflower, http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/cauliflower-health-benefits/ written by the lovely Helen Nichols, who is the editor in chief at Well-Being Secrets.com

cauliflower

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

Serves: 4 serves

Ingredients

For the Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of ginger, grated
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup powdered glucose (we use/recommend dextrose)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 teaspoons cornstarch
For the Batter:
1 cup flour
⅔ cup cornstarch
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
water as needed to thin batter (about ½ cup)
Other Ingredients:
½ large cauliflower, cut into small florets
a deep layer of oil for frying
scallions/spring onions and sesame seeds for topping

Instructions

preheat oven to keep warm function
Sauce: Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for a minute or two. Add remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil; simmer until sauce is thickened.
Cauliflower Batter: Whisk all the batter ingredients until a loose batter forms. The batter should be thick enough to cling to the cauliflower and cover it but stay loose enough to easily drip off (adjust thickness with water).
Cauliflower Frying: Pour oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan to make it deep enough so it will cover the cauliflower about halfway (about a cup) Heat the oil over medium heat. Drop a small bit of batter in the oil to test it - when it rises to the top and bubbles, the oil is ready.
Dip cauliflower florets in the batter and let the excess drip off before putting in the oil. Fry until the cauliflower is golden brown .
Remove and set on a cooling rack with baking paper underneath for easy clean up and also to prevent it going soggy.
If you need to cook the cauliflower in batches ( as I do) you will want to put your cooked cauliflower in the oven on the cooling rack to keep it warm
Serving: Toss the fried cauliflower with the sauce (enough just to cover) and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds for serving. Serve alone or with rice.