Recipe: Gochujang-glazed cauliflower
10m Prep | 1h Cook
This vibrant recipe is both a celebration of Korean flavours and of the humble cauliflower, utilising a glaze often used for chicken or pork to transform one of our favourite vegetables into a showstopper.
Based around gochujang – the fermented Korean chilli paste that you’ll want to include in everything once you try it – the recipe is given sweetness from Australian honey, salty umami from soy sauce, a hint of acidic complexity from rice wine vinegar and depth from a splash of toasted sesame oil.
The best thing about this recipe – other than its deliciousness and its simplicity – is its versatility. Make it with a whole cauliflower or cut into florets. Serve it warm or cold. Feature it as a main course centrepiece or as a side dish for something just as delicious.
Ingredients (Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main)
- 1 cauliflower, whole or cut into large florets
- Salt for seasoning water
- 3 tbsp gochujang paste
- 4 tbsp honey
- 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 3 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp freshly grated garlic
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- Spring onions, finely sliced, to serve
- Coriander leaves, to serve
- Black sesame seeds, to serve
- White sesame seeds, to serve
Preheat oven to 180C.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil and submerge the whole cauliflower or cauliflower florets. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove cauliflower from water and drain well.
In a small saucepan, combine the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, peanut oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic and ginger and stir over a medium heat until simmering and well combined. Remove from heat – it should thicken slightly as it cools – and stir in the toasted sesame oil.
Place the par-cooked, drained caulflower on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and use a pastry brush to lightly cover the cauliflower with gochujang glaze (be sure you reserve enough to cover again later).
Roast for a further 30 -45 minutes, or until cauliflower has browned all over and even charred lightly in places. Remove from oven and brush with more glaze (or if using florets, toss them in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of glaze).
Serve with finely sliced spring onion, coriander leaves and black and white sesame seeds.