Spicy Kung Pao cauliflower

Ha… another cauliflower recipe. I hope my neighbour doesn’t think our flat smells like a fart because I cook cauliflower all the time.

Before I fell in love with cauliflower, I would never have thought that it was such a super-duper versatile ingredient. Recently, my best friend Sash told told me that you can actually freeze and blend cauliflower with fruit to make tasty smoothies. WHAT?! It sounds really weird to me, but it’s just cauliflower… so why not? I haven’t tried it yet but you may see a cauliflower smoothie recipe here soon (if I like it 🤪).

Today, I am sharing Kung Pao cauliflower – a delicious Chinese stir-fry dish that is spicy, sweet, and comforting.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Cut the cauliflower into bite-size florets. Put the florets in a large mixing bowl, adding 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce.

Mix well, making sure each cauliflower floret is coated evenly.

Place the cauliflower on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the cauliflower is golden and tender. To test, poke a floret with a fork to see if it’s tender all the way through.

Now it’s time for the stir fry. Follow the instructions and prepare the garlic, ginger, and spring onion.

Combine all the ingredients for the Kung Pao sauce in a bowl and mix well. Heat the oil in large, non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Add the minced garlic, ginger, dried chilli, and spring onion and fry for 2-3 minutes to infuse the flavours.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cauliflower florets. Give the Kung Pao sauce a quick stir and add this to the pan.

Stir-fry everything together for a couple of minutes until the cauliflower is evenly coated. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and toss for another minute, finally garnishing with the spring onion and serve hot with either rice or noodles.

This Kung Pao cauliflower is a delicious, meat-free Chinese takeaway alternative to the classic Kung Pao Chicken. It is sweet, spicy, sticky, and finger-licking tasty. My King is not usually a big cauliflower fan and doesn’t like spicy food at all; I cheekily packed this in his lunch box and was shocked that he loved it so much and asked for more the next day. Big smile on my face! 😁😁

Let me know if you try out this recipe. You can leave a comment below, or take a picture and tag it with #k33_kitchen and share it on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, hope you enjoy my recipes!