Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower Karaage with Scallion Pancakes

I love the reduced produce section of my supermarket. I always end up with a ton of something random for really cheap. This time it was cauliflower. I had JUST finished watching an episode of Shokugeki no Soma where there was a karaage competition, and I was inspired!

If there is something you will notice about my "recipes" here, it is that they are completely on the fly with no measurements. Everything is adjusted to my own personal taste. Making food is an art, and sometimes you just need to feel it.

CAULIFLOWER KARAAGE

You Will Need:
Cauliflower chunks (Can also use paneer or tofu)
Gluten Free flour mix (I actually used Bob's Mills biscuit mix)
Water
Oil for frying (I use coconut)

Marinade:

Apple chunks

Orange juice and some zest

Apricot Jelly

Fresh Ginger

Pepper

Cayanne powder 

Garam Masala powder

Fresh Onion

(The following ingredients help make a mock soy sauce. I have an allergy. You can just use soy sauce, but I recommend not omitting the ginger and garlic powder)

Balsamic Vinegar

Ginger Powder

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Molasses

Salt

Put all the ingredients in a blender with a bit of water if needed. Once liquefied, heat on a very low flame until the liquids start to simmer off, and it becomes thicker. Turn off the flame, and let cool. Pour over cauliflower chunks. Let marinate for at least an hour. 

Get your wok, or whatever you use for frying that will give you a decent depth of oil. Quarter inch should be fine. Get it nice and hot on a medium heat.

Have your flour in a bowl for coating the cauliflower. You can flavor the flour with anything you wish, such as some more garam masala, ginger powder, etc. Get creative! Make a few plain ones and taste before you decide.

Roll or shake up the cauliflower pieces in the flour mixture. Let the cauliflower drip a bit first so its not so wet before you roll it. Once coated, fry them up!

If there are any small bits of broken cauliflower, you can still use it. Just mix them in the flour mixture, and squeeze them together with your hand. It will stick together, and you can fry it like that!

You're done, son! They are ready to eat, or you can dip them in the leftover marinade, or any duck sauce, hot sauce or whateva packets you have lying around. I made the mistake of covering them in the sauce before eating, and the crispy coating soggified. I suppose they could have been put in the broiler to crisp up the outside again, but I just wanted to eat. They sure were tasty!

Oh what, you want to know about those scallion pancakes too? My game is getting stronger with them things. They are not official, flaky scallion pancakes, but they are quick, tasty and get the job done.

SCALLION PANCAKES

You will Need:

Gluten free flour mix

Fine rice flour

Onion powder

Chopped fresh Scallions

Salt

Water

Oil for frying

Mix everything together. Use a higher ratio of gluten free flour to rice flour, because the rice flour gets too gummy. Use the water to make the batter relatively thin. It depends on you though, if you want thicker pancakes, go for it!

The oil in the pan doesnt need to be deep, but it needs to be more than just coated. Make your pancakes like you would a regular pancake. As big as you want! How cooked up or crisp you want them is up to you.

I ate my pancakes with a quick stirfry made from mixed vegetables and leftover sauce from the kaarage. Good stuff!