Last week I tried a recipe from Milk Street magazine. It was advertised on the cover as Lemon Roasted Cauliflower, which seemed like a misnomer to me: The only lemon in the recipe is some zest added at the end, and wedges served alongside. I don’t know why that bugged me so much, but there you go. Anyway, the actual recipe title was “Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini and Lemon.” Far more accurate, if a bit of a mouthful.
(And I’m hardly one to talk! I’m still struggling with the title of the recipe I’m presenting here. How to get across the idea that I’m using Sichuan flavors – though this is far from any kind of authentic Sichuan preparation – while also telegraphing the cauliflower’s delicate crust and not using too many words? It’s a conundrum. Unlike with my bad college poetry, I can’t just call a recipe “Untitled” and be done with it.)
Anyway… The moment I saw this recipe in Milk Street, I knew I had to try it. It blended tahini, olive oil, and tomato paste with a little cornstarch to make a sort of light batter, to be rubbed into cauliflower florets. After roasting at 500 degrees, the cauliflower was tender and the batter had turned to a very delicate, charred, flavorful crust. Almost as satisfying as fried cauliflower, but much easier to pull off. I forgot the lemon zest, but I don’t think the dish suffered much for it. (JJ Goode, who partners with chefs to write cookbooks for home cooks, agrees: https://www.tastecooking.com/things-chefs-do-that-you-should-not-do/)
I loved the dish, and we ate it greedily, but I wanted more spice. My mind drifted to one of my favorite dishes: Dan-Dan noodles, which mixes sesame paste – not tahini, but dark Chinese roasted sesame paste – with soy sauce and hot chile oil. It seemed clear to me that this technique could marry brilliantly with those flavors to create a really bold and delicious vegetarian main dish.
So the next week I brought home another head of cauliflower and got to work. With both Milk Street magazine and Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe for the amazingly delicious “Xie Laoban’s Dan Dan Noodles” (from Every Grain of Rice) in front of me, I set about moving the flavors of the latter into the technique of the former.
First, I substituted Chinese roasted sesame paste for 1/4 of the tahini; the roasted paste has a much stiffer texture, and I didn’t think a 1-to-1 substitution would work. I darkened the sesame flavor a bit more by swapping in roasted sesame oil for part of the olive oil. The rest I replaced with Dunlop’s homemade chile oil. (In the recipe write-up I substituted 1 tablespoon each of neutral oil and roasty but mild Korean chile flakes – or a smaller amount of spicier pizza-style red chile flakes – but the chile oil is simple, and wonderful to have around if you want to try making it.) I also replaced 2/3 of the tomato paste with Asian chile pastes, and added some Sichuan pepper for good measure.
The batter tasted really good, and I was confident as I slid the baking sheet into the oven. The cauliflower needed to roast for 25 minutes or so, giving me plenty of time to throw together a little sauce to drizzle on top. I wanted to amp up the flavors already present in the batter, and really give a salty-tangy punch to the whole affair, so I basically made the sauce part of the Dan-Dan noodle recipe – a simple blending of sesame paste, soy, chile oil, and a dash of vinegar.
The final dish was even more delicious than I had hoped, with the lovely light crust of the Milk Street recipe but the bold, spicy Sichuan flavors of Dan-Dan Noodles. I served it with rice, steamed spinach, and red peppers I roasted lightly in the oven for the last 10 minutes of the cauliflower’s cooking time. It made a scrumptious, light but satisfying vegan meal I hope to have again soon!
Tahini-Crusted Roasted Cauliflower with Sichuan Sauce
Notes
*Ingredient note: I used a mix of Indian sambal oelek and Sichuan chile-bean paste (dobanjiang), but Rooster brand chile-garlic paste (find it next to the Sriracha) or even Sriracha would work. Use less Sriracha, as it’s more concentrated. You could even try Korean gochujang, which would give a sweeter but undoubtedly still delicious result.
Ingredients
For the cauliflower:
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon Korean chile flakes (gochugaru) or 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 1 tablespoon roasted (dark) sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chile-garlic paste or other Asian chile paste, to taste (see note)
- 1-1/2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 tablespoon Chinese dark roasted sesame paste
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch ground Sichuan pepper, if available
- 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into 1- to 2-inch florets
For sauce:
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon dark roasted sesame paste
- 1-1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- Pinch sugar
- 1 tablespoon Korean chile flakes (gochugaru) or 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- Pinch ground Sichuan pepper, if available
Instructions
- Heat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray well with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl with a fork or whisk, blend all cauliflower ingredients except cauliflower. Taste for spice and add more chile flakes or chile paste of choice if desired (remember you will drizzle it with spicy sauce though). When the mixture is well blended and spicy to your liking, add the cauliflower and mix well with your hands, being sure to rub the batter onto the florets as much as you can.
- Transfer cauliflower to baking sheet, placing flat sides down when possible. Use any extra batter in bowl to more thoroughly cover lightly coated florets.
- Roast without stirring until tender and deliciously charred on bottoms and edges, 25 to 30 minutes.
- While cauliflower is roasting, stir together all sauce ingredients. Place half in small dishes for dipping; set other half aside.
- When cauliflower is done, transfer from baking sheet to serving bowl or plates. Drizzle with reserved sauce and serve immediately.
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