Cauliflower stir-fried with a real deal Chinese Kung Pao sauce.
Recently I am quite addicted to spicy sweet and sour taste or more accurately Kung pao sauce. Previously I am a big fan of cauliflower, but my husband hated it. After testing with different cooking methods, now he is a big fan too.
Kung Pao sauce is a famous Chinese stir-fry sauce originated from Sichuan Cuisine, starting from the famous Kung Pao chicken. This hot and sour sauce can be used with lots of ingredients including mushrooms, shrimps, tofu, lotus root. And I have found another great option if you love to make kung pao dishes.
The best part of this dish for me is the crunchy stems, so I recommend using high cauliflower and cut into smaller florets for a better flavoring.
- 1 large cauliflower head cut into small floret pieces
- 2 tbsp. of cooking oil
- 1 green pepper sliced
- 1 red pepper slices
- 1 leek onion , cut into 2cm sections
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 inch ginger sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
- 3 ~5 dried chili peppers , cut into small pieces
- 1 tbsp. Sichuan pepper
- 1/2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp. vinegar
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
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Cut cauliflower into smaller floret pieces.
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In a small bowl, mix all the ingredient for stir fry sauce and set aside.
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Heat up cooking oil in wok over slow fire, and then fry garlic, ginger, leek onion, Sichuan pepper and dried chili pepper until aroma. Place cauliflower in and fry for 1-2 minutes until the florets become soft.
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Stir the sauce well again and pour in wok. Add red peppers and give everything a big stir fry to let the cauliflower well coated with sauce.
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Add toasted peanuts and green onion sections. Mix well and serve hot.
Amazing…. Dishes,.. Way of making kimchi fried rice kinda easy… I simply love this website…
Hi Elaine！Discovered your blog through Pinterest. LOVE IT! It’s like an encyclopaedia of Chinese cuisine! Well done! I recently made a cauliflower stir-fry on my blog too. But I couldn’t find this type of cauliflower. Only had it when I went back to China.
Hi,Wei
Thanks for your so kind comments. My family are all the fans of cauliflower. Maybe most Chinese love it too, ?
Comme le dit WEI,je ne connais pas ,moi non plus ,ce type de chou
J’essaierai avec du chou fleur blanc et du chou brocoli. Ce sera certainement très bon. Merci pour cette belle recette ,et bisous Chris 06
Would you pls share where you get the wok from?
It is actually not a wok. It is a serving plate popular in China. We call it dry pot. It is quite small but can heat directly.
Would you pls share where you get the wok?
It is not a wok actually. It is a serving wok used in China usually for mala dry pot dishes. We call it 锅仔 (Guo Zai). If you want it, I can help to ship.
You are incredible and so are your recipes! I wish you inspiration and vitality, always! So you can share this delicious recipes with the world!
this recipe did not work for me. In the first step, there was not enough liquid to soften the cauliflower so after one to two minutes the cauliflower was basically raw and burning (it takes a long time at a low heat for cauliflower to give off liquid) and in the second step there was not enough liquid to keep to keep the starch from seizing up and creating a thick gunk that did not really coat the vegetable. If i did this recipe again, I would add a lot more liquid in the first step and cook it down over say 10 minutes and then a lot more liquid in the second step so the vegetable is evenly flavored.
if your veggies don’t cook… try pre-cooking by blanching for 3-4 mins in just enough water to cover & then drain but do not rinse in cold water. i’ve done this with other dishes and the veggies don’t overcook but are just great to then stir fry or mix into a veggie cheese rice combo, etc. also do this for baked casseroles…. i was surprised how well this works. i’ve always blanched in big pot of water and always seemed to get soggy veggies. maude
Hi Elaine, thank you very much for sharing your recipes! I tried this Kung Pao Cauliflower and we loved it. The only difference I made to the recipe was I added chicken strips to make it more filling for lunch. My husband liked it and asked me to make it again! I have made 3 of your recipes in 3 days and we are liking them all! I am also a fan of Liangpi and am very surprised to find your recipe online. Though I think making my own hand made noodles is too much effort for me. What noodles can I buy instead to make Liangpi?
There is a quick version to use wheat starch directly instead of washing the gluten from a dough. I will introduce that soon on the blog. Keep returned. By the way, can you access to wheat starch?
Hi Elaine,
This is fantastic. Great taste and texture. Thanks
Thanks David.
Once again, I’m having it tonight !
Love your blog, this cauliflower looks delicious. I will try it very soon.
Love from Mexico!
Laura
Happy cooking, Laura.