Bang Bang Fried Cauliflower Bowls. Featuring crispy golden fried cauliflower florets doused in a homemade sweet chili bang bang sauce served over rice with creamy avocado, some edamame pods and pickled vegetables. These bowls are super filling and restaurant inspired with an Asian flare that get finished with an extra drizzle of kewpie mayo.

This dish is extra saucy with a kick! Sweet, spicy and creamy all at the same time. Serve this up with your choice of toppings. I used some avocado, pickled cucumber, edamame pods and pickled red onion over rice. The cauliflower would be perfect over a salad for something a little lighter.

BANG BANG SAUCE

It starts with the sauce. Here I chose to make my own sweet chili sauce from scratch. Of course this is optional. I find the homemade version a tad spicier than the store bought so that’s something to take into account. Bang Bang sauce is typically made from sweet Thai chili sauce and mixed together with mayo until its becomes a creamy sauce.  The basic components of Sweet chili sauce is sugar, vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, red chili flakes which are common to most pantry staples. So if you don’t happen to have the store bought version on hand well now you can learn to make your own!

FRIED CAULIFLOWER

I don’t often make cauliflower wings because they are a tad tedious. I think its that 1 head of cauliflower makes so many little wings.. takes up a good amount of time to get them all dredged and fried. They always taste great when their ready and I thought why not a vegetarian option instead of the classic shrimp in bang bang sauce. The batter for the cauliflower needs to be thicker than your usual because it has to stay on the wings so that they stay covered and fry. Otherwise you won’t get that crispy crunchy coating and just spots of wet cauliflower. For cauliflower I always prefer to fry in hot hot oil rather than oven bake or air-fry I just find they need that extra high heat and fat to develop that crunch which makes them so tasty. I am not a fan of soggy and not crispy cauliflower otherwise.

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Print Recipe

bang bang fried cauliflower bowl

Crispy fried cauliflower florets drenched in sweet, spicy and creamy bang bang sauce served over rice with creamy avocado, edamame, pickled veggies and an extra drizzle of kewpie mayo.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Keyword: bang bang, bowl, cauliflower, dinner, Healthy, lunch, pickled vegetables, rice, Vegetarian

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower cut into florets
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 vegetable oil for frying

to serve

• rice
• pickled vegetables
• avocado
• steamed vegetables

bang bang sauce

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 TBS red chili flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• cornstarch slurry
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Instructions

• Bang bang sauce: start by making the sweet chili sauce by bringing the sugar and water to a slow boil until dissolved. Stir in the rice vinegar, chili flakes, garlic and paprika. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to simmer and stir in the fish sauce and cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch with 2 TBS water). Allow the sauce to thicken and turn off heat. Let cool. Once cooled down, mix with mayonnaise to create the creamy bang bang sauce.
• Cut the cauliflower into bite sized florets.
• Make the dredge: combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and water until the mixture has a thick pancake like consistency.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add enough oil to cover the bottom and 1 inch of the sides.
• Toss the cauliflower into the dredge and once coated, into the hot oil. The oil should reach 350 degrees F before adding anything to it. Fry the cauliflower in batches flipping once the bottom turns golden brown. Roughly 4 minutes.
• To serve: Once all the cauliflower is cooked, transfer to a bowl and toss with the bang bang sauce.
• serve over rice with avocado, pickled veggies, steamed veggies and an extra drizzle of kewpie mayo.

Notes

Bang Bang sauce: if not making from scratch, combine 1/2 cup sweet chili thai sauce with mayonnaise until desired consistency is reached. Pour overtop cauliflower and toss well.