Korean Fried Cauliflower

Name: Korean Fried Cauliflower
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 to 6 side-dish servings
Cuisine: korean
Ingredients: 1 1/2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste); 1/2 cup sugar; 6 cloves garlic, puréed; 3 tablespoons red yuzu kosho; 1/4 cup mirin; 1 cup/140 grams tempura flour or tempura batter mix; 1 large egg yolk; 1 scant cup/150 grams potato starch; 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons/150 grams Japanese wheat flour or karaage ko; Canola oil, as needed for deep-frying; 1 head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets; Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish; Lime wedges, for garnish

Recipe from Matt Abergel

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Korean Fried Cauliflower — Daniel Groshong for The New York Times

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 4(399)
Notes: Read community notes

Long before the Cheesecake Factory made this dish popular in the United States, it was made at Yardbird in Hong Kong by the Canadian chef Matt Abergel. Food that is “Korean-fried” combines the thin, crisp crust of Japanese tempura with the fire of Korean gochujang, a spicy staple available in any Asian market. The Yardbird version also includes tempura mix and red yuzu kosho, a tart Japanese condiment made of red chiles, yuzu and salt. If those are out of reach, feel free to substitute your own favorite flavors — many versions of the sauce include a little ketchup — and use any tempura batter that you like. Just don’t leave off the toasted sesame seeds; they add a nutty crunch at the very end. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: Where the World’s Chefs Want to Eat

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 side-dish servings

For the Sauce

1½tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
½cup sugar
6cloves garlic, puréed
3tablespoons red yuzu kosho
¼cup mirin

For the Tempura Batter

1cup/140 grams tempura flour or tempura batter mix
1large egg yolk
1scant cup/150 grams potato starch
1cup plus 3 tablespoons/150 grams Japanese wheat flour or karaage ko

For the Cauliflower

Canola oil, as needed for deep-frying
1head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets
Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the sauce: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the gochujang, sugar, garlic, yuzu kosho, mirin and 1 cup water. Simmer until thickened slightly and reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside at room temperature. Sauce may be made up to two weeks ahead and stored covered and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before serving.
Step 2
Make the tempura batter: Fill a pitcher with 1¾ cups ice-cold water, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the tempura flour (or batter mix), egg yolk and 1 cup of the water. Whisk to blend, then add the potato starch, wheat flour and remaining ¾ cup water. The mixture should have the consistency of thin pancake batter.
Step 3
Fill a deep fryer or large pot halfway with canola oil and bring to 350 degrees. Coat the florets with the batter and, working in batches if necessary, deep-fry until florets have a dark golden crust, 2 to 3 minutes. The crust should be crispy while the cauliflower retains some crunch.
Step 4
Remove browned florets from oil and drain on paper towels. Transfer to a warmed platter and drizzle thoroughly with sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and lime wedges. Serve hot.

Ratings

4 out of 5

399 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Britta6 years ago

You can get gochujang at most Asian supermarkets. But I agree the batter ingredients are unnecesarily complicated. For an easy tempura batter, use a 1:1 ratio of flour and corn starch, plus cold seltzer water and an egg.

kay6 years ago

Well, considering I have the chili paste and potato starch, and would just use regular flour instead of Japanese flour, and the red yuzu kosho is just a mix of chiles, salt, citrus zest, and garlic, I don't consider it all that exotic. Besides, there's always Amazon.....

Zacharia6 years ago

why use seltzer water?

BernardS6 years ago

Great recipe, but impossible to make cuz the ingredients are exotically unavailable.

tvolcan6 years ago

Ingredients available on Amazon

Phos4D6 years ago

I have a feeling I'm going to have the same thoughts as a huge majority of readers here: They look and sound great, but unless you have some really decent ethnic markets nearby, the unavailability of several of those ingredients will ruin any chance I have of trying to make it. Could I do some research and perhaps find reasonably close substitutes? Probably. But I would still never know whether they taste like they would were I able to follow the recipe exactly. Too bad. I love cauliflower.

Lynn4 years ago

For tempura batter it is not necessary to use Japanese flour. I took cooking lessons from the wife of one of the post docs in my lab (Japanese, from Japan). She used regular flour, 1 egg, enough water to make a thick slurry, and the trick was to NOT mix it well.

John5 years ago

I thank Milk Street but my local Whole Foods now has 3 varieties of gochujang. The ingredients in this recipe are far more available in 2019 than they were when published.

first time 12/102 months ago

Used Tajin (1.5 tablespoons) instead of red yuzu kosho and made tempura batter with one cup flour, one cup corn starch, and 10 oz cold club soda.

AbbyZ.6 months ago

One late night, I did not have time for tempura so here is what I did. I chopped up 1 cauliflower, sauteed in some avocado oil, until lightly brown, then added 1.5 cups of cold rice to the cauliflower, and stir fry. I combined 2 T gochujang, 2 T sugar, 5 garlic cloves, 3 T Chinese cooking wine, 2 T Tamari into a mini processor and pureed it all into a sauce, then poured it over the cauliflower rice in the pan. Topped it off with 3 scallions minced and 2 T sesame seeds. Excellent flavor!

Kaustubh1 year ago

Yuzu Kosho was impossible to obtain in grocery stores. Any recommended substitute for that?

Erik B1 year ago

This was good! Definitely could have been less sweet, I did 1/3 a cup of sugar and was still a bit too sweet. I also added cornstarch to the sauce, it wasn't really thickening without it.

Lyn1 year ago

The sauce was way too sweet for my taste.

Coral1 year ago

This is a great opportunity to ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar — or gochujang.

Andrea Burdick2 years ago

A “head” of cauliflower is not very helpful! Please give an amount, either oz or grams, just something I can use to calculate how much tempura batter I need and how much sauce to make.

klearson2 years ago

This turned out pretty decent. I wish I had seasoned my cauliflower a bit before frying. A little salt on the inside would make it all come together. I couldn’t find yuzu kosho at Joong Boo so I threw in some wasabi and red curry paste and ketchup, all good!

nick3 years ago

Check out Mark Bittman recipe for chicken stir fry with ketchup. I know it sounds weird but it is fabulous. Not the exact same as this but fabulous.

Jamie4 years ago

Used only the boxed tempura batter mix and it turned out just fine!

David TK Hayes4 years ago

I ended up with a scant 1/3 cup of the sauce and about 2 quarts of cauliflower when done. I thought the cauliflower was totally bland but the sauce was tasty. So not sure what to expect from fried food, but I am a pretty good cook. I will not bother with this one again. proportions are incorrect, and do not have the desire to spend that much time preppeing and frying unless the outcome is really really good

Denise4 years ago

What’s the pitcher full of cold water for? Don’t see it’s use in the recipe.

Jay S4 years ago

I am very surprised that in the US you cannot find these ingredients everywhere. I live in Canada, 300 miles north of Montana/North Dakota, and these ingredients are readily available.

Lynn4 years ago

John5 years ago

I thank Milk Street but my local Whole Foods now has 3 varieties of gochujang. The ingredients in this recipe are far more available in 2019 than they were when published.

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