This is now one of my all time favorite ways to eat cauliflower. Here, roasted cauliflower gets tossed in a sweet and spicy Korean barbecue sauce that’s usually used for Korean fried chicken. And this way it is, I think, utterly amazing.
The sweet, spicy, salty, garlicky, gingery Korean sauce is so good with the nutty roasted cauliflower.
Gochujang, a Korean red chili paste, can be found at most Asian grocery stores or online. If you wish to make this gluten free, use tamari instead of soy sauce and check the label on your gochujang (some contain wheat, some don’t). It is vegan if you use brown sugar or agave nectar instead of honey. You might want to double the sauce. It keeps well, and it’s delicious on chicken, eggs, tofu, and probably lots of other things as well.
Sweet and Spicy Korean Cauliflower
1 medium head of cauliflower, thick core and outer leaves removed, sliced into bite-sized pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane or minced
1 1/2 tablespoons gochujang
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
2 scallions, both white and green parts, trimmed and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
neutral oil for roasting the cauliflower, such as canola or grapeseed
Preheat oven to 425°F. Add the garlic, ginger, gochujang, soy sauce or tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and honey or brown sugar to the bowl of a food processor (or blender or stick blender) and puree until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the cauliflower with neutral oil to coat it. Spread it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt (use restraint here, you want to season the vegetable, but there’s plenty of saltiness in the sauce).
Roast for 25-30 minutes or until deeply browned. Toss with the sauce in a large bowl. Top with scallions.