“Deep-frying is like the icing sugar of cookery – it just makes everything taste so much better! This crisp, battered manifestation of the humble cauliflower is based on one of the dishes I can never resist when I go to a Chinese restaurant: salt and pepper squid,” says food writer and chef Ravinder Bhogal.
“The batter is laced with mouth-tingling Sichuan peppercorns, which are dry-roasted to tease out their fragrance and flavour, along with some more assertive black peppercorns for a bit of heat. Importantly, the popcorn should really be scarfed as soon as it hits the plate.”
Read: Cauliflower, Lemon and Chilli Pasta
Serves: 4 as a starter
Ingredients:
- 1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
- small handful of Thai basil leaves
- 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 red chillies, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- groundnut oil, for deep-frying ( or peanut oil)
- lime wedges, to serve
For the dipping sauce:
- 100ml Chinkiang black vinegar
- 80ml light soy sauce
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- small thumb of ginger, finely grated
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
For the batter:
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 200g plain flour
- 4 tablespoons cornflour
- about 300ml ice-cold sparkling water
Method
To make the dipping sauce, simply whisk together all the ingredients.
Read: Popcorn Cauliflower and Broccoli
For the batter, heat a dry frying pan over medium heat and toast the peppercorns until they’re aromatic. Tip into a pestle and mortar, along with the salt, and crush to a coarse powder. Empty into a mixing bowl, add both flours and mix well. Now whisk in the sparkling water, adding just enough to make a batter with a double-cream consistency, and being careful not to over beat.
Fill a large, heavy-based saucepan a third full with the deep-frying oil. Heat the oil to 180°C – if you don’t have a thermometer, you will know the oil is ready when a cube of bread turns golden brown in 20 seconds. Dip the pieces of cauliflower into the batter, one at a time, letting the excess drip off, and deep-fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Dip the basil leaves in batter and fry in the same way. When you’ve finished frying the cauliflower and basil leaves, carefully pour out most of the oil from the pan, leaving just a few tablespoons. Place over medium–high heat and flash-fry the spring onions, chillies and garlic for a minute or so, until the garlic is just beginning to colour. Drain on kitchen paper, scatter over the cauliflower and toss.
Read: Oven-Roasted Cauliflower
Serve immediately, with lime wedges for squeezing and the dipping sauce alongside.
Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes From An Immigrant Kitchen by Ravinder Bhogal, photography by Kristin Perers, is available now.
– With PA
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