General Tsao’s cauliflower is one of those dishes people have grown up with eating out at Chinese restaurants-I’m not even sure it’s really a dish in Chinese cuisine, but something invented to appeal to the palettes of Americans. However it came about, it is a delicious and guilty pleasure, and we have veganized it for you here!
Although this dish is fried, I have included instructions for roasting the cauliflower as well for a lighter option.
General Tsao's Cauliflower
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Rachel Carr
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 5 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 Tablespoon chopped ginger
- ½ cups agave, maple syrup or honey (not vegan)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1/2 qt. Veg stock
- 1/2 cup tamari
For the cauliflower
- 2 heads of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 qt safflower or rice bran oil (for frying)
*
For the cauliflower batter:
- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour
- 1½ -2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- pinch of sea salt
To assemble the dish:
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, sliced
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Whisk together the potato starch and the water into a slurry and set aside.
- In a medium sized sauce pan heat the coconut oil and saute the chopped giner and garlic.
- Add the agave (or other sweetener), apple cider vinegar, white wine, vegetable stock, and tamari and bring to a boil.
- Add the potato starch and water mixture and allow it to come to a boil again and turn off the heat. Set aside until you are ready to use.
For the cauliflower
- Puree batter ingredients together in a blender and set aside until ready to fry.
- Put the safflower oil in a sauce pan until it is about 2" deep. How much oil you use will depend on how large your pan is. The oil will need to just cover the cauliflower florets, so you can use less oil if you fry in batches. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
- Toss the cauliflower florets in the batter briefly until coated and drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Make sure that they cook long enough so that there isn't raw batter on the inside of the cauliflower when you bite into it.
- *if you have a countertop fryer, you can use that as well!
- * A healthier option is to roast the cauliflower and skip the batter and frying altogether. If you choose this option, you should toss the cauliflower florets in some oil, salt and pepper and roast at 375-400 degrees on a baking sheet until golden, about 20 minutes.
To assemble the dish:
- Heat the oil and saute the shallots until translucent. Add the bell pepper and jalapeno and saute briefly. Add 1 cup of sauce to the saute pan and bring to a simmer. Add the chopped scallions. Add about 2 cups of the battered and fried cauliflower and toss in the sauce until completely coated. Allow to simmer in the sauce for about 1 minute. Serve over brown rice with steamed broccoli or broccolini.
1
So happy to find this recipe! My dad and I both love this entree at the restaurant!!
Hi Allie,
Thank you! Let me know how it goes!
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
I just ate at your restaurant for the first time and I’m in love. OMG everything was perfect; atmosphere, service and the food was to die for. I can’t wait to bring my husband. So glad my friend Erika Gummels brought me there. Thank you and congratulations. Lisa (Can’t wait to try this cauliflower recipe).
Thanks for the comment!