I had this in at a cafe here in NYC a few weeks ago and I have been playing with recreating it myself. Theirs was good, and fried, and was missing a bit of complexity. Mine is baked and i add an under note to the rice and the batter - Enjoy -
Ingredients
Cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower – Cut into florets
Batter
1 tsp. Avocado Oil
1 cup Chickpea flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the sweet & sour sauce:
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup soy sauce, low salt
¼ cup of water
3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 teaspoons of Sriracha
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
Toppings:
2 green onions, chopped
Sesame seeds
Rice
2 cups of rice
4 cups veggie stock
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of cilantro, chopped and stems removed
1 tablespoon Avocado oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then add a rack and spray with oil.
Whisk all the ingredients for the cauliflower batter in a large bowl. Dip the florets one at a time into the batter and place on the rack, repeat until done. Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, turning the florets over once during that time. You want a nice golden brown.
While the florets are baking make rice. Place all the ingredients into a sauce pan, stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Once done, fluff rice with a fork, place in a serving bowl, cover.
Now that both the florets and the rice are cooking, let’s start the sauce. Pour the soy and the agave into a sauce pan, over medium heat, whisk. Now add the water and the balance of the liquids and whisk, remove a ¼ cup of the liquids from pan, placing in a bowl and whisk in the corn starch until smooth and return to sauce pan, whisk until the mixture as dissolved. Now add the balance of the sauce ingredients, reduce heat and simmer until thick.
Remove cauliflower from the oven when done, place in a serving bowl, pour sauce over and toss to coat. Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onions. Serve with rice – enjoy.