As I was eating roasted cauliflower while sipping a beer the other night, I thought: why not combine these two delicious things, and deep fry it? It turned out to be a good thought—these gorgeously golden, celery-seed flecked florets were rich without being heavy and perfectly complemented by a light and sweet rice vinegar sauce served on the side.
BEER-BATTERED CAULIFLOWER
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
for the batter
- 3/4 cup white rice flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 TB chickpea flour
- 1 cup beer
- 2 tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
for the sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 5 TB sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- a few dashes of celery seed
prep for frying
- 3 tsp Ener-G, whisked with 8 TB water
- plenty of canola or grapeseed oil, for frying
- 1 head of cauliflower, separated into florets
Instructions
- Whisk all of the batter ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
- To make the sauce, place the water and rice vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add in the sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved, then remove from the heat. Sprinkle some celery seed over the top and allow to cool.
- Whisk the Ener-G and water together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Place several inches of oil into a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat. After about 7 minutes, throw a pinch of the batter into the oil. If it bubbles up immediately, you are ready to fry.
- Working in batches of 3 florets at a time, toss in the Ener-G/water mixture, then coat in the batter, letting any excess drip back off into the bowl. Using tongs or chopsticks, place into the hot oil, holding it for a few seconds in the oil before releasing it. (Otherwise, the battered cauliflower will stick to the bottom of the pan.) Allow the cauliflower to fry for a few minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain, sprinkling with salt immediately.
- Sprinkle the fried cauliflower with fresh parsley and serve immediately with the sauce.
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
you're the deep frying queen! these look so crisp and light. i love it!!
ha! I do love to deep fry. : )
I like the way you think! This looks amazing!
thanks Cadry! Isn't beer inspiring?
WOW. Just…wow. Cauliflower is my favorite veggie, and these just look unreal. I think I could eat the whole batch!
Thanks Amber, I almost did! : P
these look incredible!
you mentioned roasted cauliflower; did you cook this cauliflower before frying it up? totally making this.
nope, no need to cook the cauliflower before frying — I hope you enjoy!
Was that the NH beer from this weekend? 😀 That cauli sounds fantastic!!! We'll have to get together soon so you can make it for us. 😉
it was! Yes, let's get together and deep fry soon! : )
Oh now this cauliflower looks amazing!!
I was literally thinking of exactly what I wanted to do with cauliflower tonight when I came across this post; what an amazing idea! Definitely giving this a go!
Hi Erin! I was delighted to have the opportunity to make one of your delicious creations. Tried these tonight and they hit the spot. Delicious as always:)
Thanks for trying it out, Leila — glad you enjoyed! : )