Hot Tempura Cauliflower Bites (Gluten Free)

Here is something light and bright for you, that is punchy enough in flavour to bring lots of joy to your January. Although this is not a penitent January dish. It is fabulous all year round and deserves celebrating. Humble ingredients are the best and they are so easily elevated.

Have you met my friend Gojuchang?

Gojuchang, if you don’t know it yet, is Korean fermented chilli paste and it is an absolutely sublime ingredient. Hot, deep and rich, it tells lies about your cooking. It tells that you have cooked things for longer than what you have and that everything is far more complicated than you know it is. You have to have it in your cupboard.

Here, I make a very simple marinade for cauliflower with it before dusting it thoroughly with brown rice flour (white will do here too) and then dipping it and allowing it to bathe briefly in a brown rice batter that just happens to be also gluten-free. I serve them on a bed of gojuchang mayo which is a sublime condiment in most situations (try it with your burger, in a chicken sandwich and your next platter of fried chicken). Crisp curry leaves are the crowning glory but don’t panic if you can’t find them. Fresh coriander works really well here too, and you can fry that also if you want to try something new. Coriander phobes can try fried shredded kale, so delicious. Just make sure that you dry them first so that they crisp nicely.

Note: not all gojuchang pastes are gluten free but many are, so check the ingredients first if gluten is an issue.