I used to like chicken karaage (鶏の唐揚げ) when I was still eating chicken. It’s Japanese style fried chicken. Karaage is pronounced as ka-ra-a-ge. It’s commonly eat at ramen shops and izakaya (tapas style restaurants). It’s crispy outside and juicy inside with flavor of sweet garlicky gingerly say sauce.
When I saw vegan cauliflower wings recipe on YouTube, I thought of making a chicken karaage like dish with cauliflower. Of course, I can deep fry and make it crispy but I wanted to create a “non-fried” version to be healthier. The ingredients (excluding flour and seasonings) are simple. – cauliflower, ginger, garlic and yamaimo.
What is yamaimo? Yamaimo is the brown log-looking thing in the above picture. It’s a type of yam called mountain yam and I think it is native to Japan and some other Asian countries. It has white flesh inside. The skin in not edible. Today I will use grated white flesh as a binding agent in place of eggs. Grated yamaimo is slimy!
If you are not accustomed to yamaimo, it may look gross but it has very mild flavor and does wonder in vegan cooking. You can find yamaimo at Japanese supermarkets and Asian markets.
I’ll show the step-by-step instructions but the shorter version of the instructions and the listing of the ingredients are available at the bottom of this post.
- Cut cauliflower into large florets. They need to be large. If they are too small, they get too soft when they are baked. Preheat oven at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius) .
2. Mix marinade one ingredients in a bowl and pour it into a sealable plastic bag. I reuse plastic bags many times. 🙂
3. Put cauliflower florets in the plastic bag and remove air before sealing the bag. Massage cauliflower gentle to distribute the marinade evenly. Set aside for 20 minutes. Turn over the bag halfway through.
4. Mix dry ingredients to make a four mix. I use a plastic bag but you can do it in a bowl.
5. Remove cauliflower from the marinade and coat flour mix. Save the remaining marinade. I put cauliflower florets in the bag with the flour mix and massage them to coat flour mix.
6. Place cauliflower florets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake them for 12 minutes at 430 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius). Turn them over halfway through.
After 12 minutes, they should be slightly burned.
7. Mix the remaining of marinade one with the rest of marinade two ingredients.
8. Remove cauliflower florets from the oven and coat marinade two. Tap cauliflower florets to remove excess marinade.
9. Place cauliflower florets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake them for 12 minutes at 430 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius). It’s better to use a new sheet of parchment paper. Turn them over halfway through.
I attempted to make this dish several times and found this double dipping and baking method works the best. When they are done baking, cauliflower karaage is golden brown and crispy outside and juicy inside.
We usually squeeze some lemon juice to eat karaage in Japan. It adds freshness to the dish. This recipe isn’t as simple as my other recipes but it tastes like real karaage and healthier. I hope you try it!
- 2 cups cauliflower
- *Marinade One
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 clove garlic - grated
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- *Flour mix
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoon potato starch (katakuriko)
- *Marinade Two
- Remaining marinade one
- 2 tablespoons grated yamaimo
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoon potato starch (katakuriko)
- Cut cauliflower into large florets. Preheat oven at 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 degrees Celsius).
- Mix marinade one ingredients in a bowl and pour it into a sealable plastic bag. Put cauliflower florets in the plastic bag and remove air before sealing the bag. Massage cauliflower gentle to distribute the marinade evenly. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Put cauliflower florets in the plastic bag and remove air before sealing the bag. Massage cauliflower gentle to distribute the sauce evenly. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients to make a flour mix.
- Remove cauliflower from the marinade and coat flour mix. Save the remaining marinade.
- Place cauliflower florets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake them for 12 minutes at 430 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius). Turn them over halfway through.
- Mix the remaining of marinade one with the rest of marinade two ingredients.
- Remove cauliflower florets from the oven and coat marinade two. Tab cauliflower florets to remove excess marinade.
- Place cauliflower florets on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake them for 12 minutes 430 Fahrenheit (220 Celsius). It's better to use a new sheet of parchment paper. Turn them over halfway through.
hbtv.us says
This looks a lot like the salt-and-pepper popcorn chicken I used to get on the street in Taiwan, although that might be an adaptation of karaage than the Chinese dish from whence karaage came.
mybrutalx.com says
Fried chicken, whether it’s Southern, Japanese, or Korean, is one of my favourite foods of all time.
admin says
🙂