Lemongrass Chilli Cauliflower – roasted cauliflower florets quickly stir fried with fragrant lemongrass, chilli and ginger.
Ah, the humble cauliflower…once maligned solely as a mushy vehicle for gooey cheese sauce (not that it’s a bad thing mind you), it has enjoyed a resurgence in the last couple of years, partly due to the popularization of cauliflower rice and other imaginative preparations in paleo and other health-focused diets.
Although it’s had a bad rap in its time, gone are the days of bland, overcooked cauliflower – instead, it has redeemed itself as a versatile yet underrated addition to the modern kitchen.
I picked up a whole cauliflower for a couple of dollars this week, which is odd as I don’t think it’s the season for them yet…but being the bargain whore that I am, I’m not complaining.
One of my favourite ways to prepare cauliflower is by roasting it. This concentrates the flavours of the cauliflower, adding a nutty note to it without the risk of it going mushy.
From my own experience, cauliflower has never featured that much in Southeast Asian cooking – at least, certainly not as a centre piece. I remember bits of cauliflower popping up in mixed vegetable side dishes or sometimes in curries, but never as the main feature.
But for a twist, we’re going to bring cauliflower to the fore today with some lemongrass chilli cauliflower.
Lemongrass and chilli are two key ingredients which really embody the soul of Southeast Asian cooking. One simple yet delicious dish that features this combo of fresh, fragrant lemongrass and spicy chilli is Vietnamese lemongrass chilli chicken.
However, for this recipe we’re going replace the chicken with cauliflower, and accentuate its sweet and savoury elements by roasting it first then giving it a final high-heat blast in the wok with the aromatics. This allows you to get lots of nice charred accents to the cauliflower and concentrate its natural sweetness while reducing the risk of burning the more delicate ingredients to hell…
A lot of Vietnamese recipes call for sugar to add sweetness, but here I’m using coconut water for a hint of natural sweetness and moisture, and adding a bit of ginger for some extra spice. You’re looking for a good balance of savoury, spicy and sweet. Coconut water is more readily available these days, although that does tend to be as more expensive “healthy” type drinks, but if you can’t get coconut water, go ahead and use some stock instead – just be mindful you might be adding extra salt, so use a bit less fish sauce, and add a pinch of sugar. Roasting the cauliflower will coax out some of its sweetness out as well, but you can always adjust to your taste at the end of cooking.
For some variety, I’ve topped the cauliflower with some spring onion oil – very simply spring onions cooked gently in oil till they turn soft and sweet, in turn imparting their fragrance into the oil.
You can make extra and top anything you like with it – noodles, rice, grilled meat, anything that needs a boost of rich onion-yness! If you’re not sure about the onion oil, you can simply top the finished cauliflower with fresh chopped spring onion, which will add a nice freshness but more of a bite.
Lemongrass Chilli Cauliflower – here’s the recipe!
- 700 grams cauliflower (broken into bite-size florets)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (divided)
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large clove garlic (finely chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger (minced)
- 1 stalk lemongrass (finely chopped - about 20 grams, or 2 tablespoons)
- 1 long red chilli (thinly sliced, deseeded if preferred)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 1/2 onion (sliced)
- 125 mililtres coconut water or stock (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 large spring onions (about 60 grams)
- 60 mililitres vegetable oil
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 425°F
- To make the spring onion oil, slice the spring onions crossways into thin rounds. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-low heat and add the spring onions, and cook gently for about 5 minutes till the spring onions have softened and lost their brightness, but not turned brown. Turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl to use later.
- In a roasting dish, combine the cauliflower with the oyster sauce, pepper, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, mixing well to ensure everything is coated. Roast for 20 minutes until the cauliflower is browned around the edges, stirring halfway through.
- Remove from the oven, and set to one side. If necessary, the cauliflower can be prepared up to this point ahead of time and refrigerated until needed.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan on medium-high, then add the onion and lemongrass and fry for a minute or two until they turn golden, then add the garlic and ginger and fresh and dried chilli and fry for a few more seconds till fragrant, but be careful not to let them burn.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the cauliflower and mix with the aromatics, then add the remaining 1tbsp fish sauce and coconut water. Cook for a further couple of minutes over high heat until the liquid has mostly reduced. Taste and adjust for seasoning if necessary.
- Transfer to a serving dish or plates and top with spring onion oil (or simply fresh spring onions and extra fresh chilli if desired.
