Bang Bang Cauliflower

Cauliflower florets in a light cornflour batter, fried until genuinely crisp, then tossed through a sticky sweet-chilli, garlic and rice vinegar glaze. The trick is a double fry and a sauce reduced to coating thickness before the cauliflower ever touches it. Serves 4 as a starter or sharing plate.

Bang bang cauliflower is the starter everyone fights over: craggy, crunchy florets lacquered in a sweet-hot, garlicky glaze that stays glossy rather than soggy. Getting it right at home comes down to two things — a batter built on cornflour, and a sauce thick enough to cling on contact. Both are easy. Forty minutes, most of it at the hob, and you have a bowl that disappears fast.

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower (about 800g) cauliflower — broken into bite-sized florets, stalk trimmed
• 100g cornflour — plus 2 tbsp extra for dusting
• 60g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper — black pepper works but white gives the takeaway note
• 180ml cold sparkling water — ice-cold; still water is fine
• 1.5 litres sunflower or vegetable oil — for frying
• 6 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine — swap dry sherry, or dry white wine at a push
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar — cider vinegar works
• 4 cloves garlic — finely grated
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds and 3 spring onions — seeds toasted, spring onions finely sliced, to finish

Method

1. Break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets — roughly a heaped tablespoon each, so they cook through in the time the batter takes to crisp. Pat them properly dry with kitchen paper; surface water is the enemy of a clinging batter.
2. Whisk 100g cornflour, the plain flour, baking powder, five spice, white pepper and 1 tsp fine salt in a large bowl. Pour in the cold sparkling water and whisk to a smooth batter about the consistency of single cream. Leave it lumpy-free but do not overwork it.
3. Toss the dry florets in the extra 2 tbsp cornflour in a separate bowl until lightly chalky all over. This dusting is what makes the batter grip rather than slide off.
4. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan to 170°C — a cube of bread should turn golden in about 60 seconds. Never fill the pan more than a third full, and keep a lid to hand.
5. Working in three batches, dip the dusted florets into the batter, let the excess run off for a second, then lower them carefully into the oil. Fry for 4-5 minutes until pale gold and cooked through, moving them about so they don't stick. Drain on a rack, not on paper.
6. Raise the oil to 190°C and fry each batch again for 60-90 seconds until deep golden and audibly crisp. Drain on the rack and season lightly with salt while hot.
7. While the second fry happens, make the sauce: put the sweet chilli, ketchup, light soy, Shaoxing wine, rice vinegar and garlic in a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and turns glossy — it should coat the back of a spoon and leave a clear trail when you drag a spatula through. Stir in the sesame oil off the heat.
8. Tip the hot cauliflower into the warm sauce and toss for no more than 20-30 seconds, just until every piece is lacquered. Move fast — the longer it sits, the softer it gets.
9. Pile straight onto a warm platter, scatter with toasted sesame seeds and spring onions, and eat immediately while the crunch is still there.

Serve it with

• Steamed jasmine rice and a bowl of garlic pak choi
• Egg fried rice for a full fakeaway spread
• Salt and pepper chips
• Smacked cucumber salad with rice vinegar and chilli oil
• Cold lager or a sharp, off-dry Riesling

Why this works

Cornflour fries into a glassy, low-gluten shell that stays crisp far longer than plain flour, and the second, hotter fry drives off the last of the surface moisture so the crust sets hard. Because the sauce is reduced to a glaze before the cauliflower goes in, it clings as a thin lacquer instead of soaking in — that's the difference between takeaway-crisp and a wet bowl.

Common swaps

• Air fryer or oven route: toss floured florets in 3 tbsp oil and cook at 200°C for 22-25 minutes, shaking twice, then glaze. Less shattering but far less oil.
• Swap the cauliflower for broccoli florets, king oyster mushrooms or firm tofu cubes — all take the same batter and timings.
• For a creamy bang bang, whisk 3 tbsp mayonnaise into the cooled glaze and drizzle rather than toss.
• Gluten-free: replace the plain flour with more cornflour plus 2 tbsp rice flour, and use tamari in place of soy.
• No Shaoxing wine? Dry sherry is the closest supermarket match; otherwise use 1 tbsp water plus an extra splash of rice vinegar.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Frying wet florets. Water under the batter steams, lifts the coating off and leaves bald patches — dry and dust properly.
• Overcrowding the pan. Too many pieces at once drops the oil temperature, and the batter absorbs oil instead of setting. Three batches, not one.
• Saucing too early or too thin. A runny, unreduced sauce soaks straight in; reduce it to a glaze and toss for seconds only, just before serving.
• Draining on kitchen paper. It traps steam against the base of each floret and softens it — use a wire rack.

Storage, freezing & reheating

Storage: Best eaten within minutes of saucing. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the coating will soften.

Freezing: Freeze the plain, twice-fried cauliflower (unsauced) on a tray until solid, then bag for up to 2 months. Cook from frozen at 200°C for 12-15 minutes, then glaze fresh.

Reheating: Never microwave it. Spread on a rack over a tray and reheat at 200°C, or in an air fryer at 190°C, for 6-8 minutes until crisp again, then toss through freshly warmed sauce.

Allergen notes: contains Gluten, Soya, Sesame, Sulphites. Always check individual product labels.

Estimated nutrition

Per serving, estimated from typical ingredient values — not a substitute for precise dietary calculation.