Recipe from Matt Abergel
Adapted by Julia Moskin
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 4(396)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Long before the Cheesecake Factory made this dish popular in the United States, it was made at Yardbird in Hong Kong by the Canadian chef Matt Abergel. Food that is “Korean-fried” combines the thin, crisp crust of Japanese tempura with the fire of Korean gochujang, a spicy staple available in any Asian market. The Yardbird version also includes tempura mix and red yuzu kosho, a tart Japanese condiment made of red chiles, yuzu and salt. If those are out of reach, feel free to substitute your own favorite flavors — many versions of the sauce include a little ketchup — and use any tempura batter that you like. Just don’t leave off the toasted sesame seeds; they add a nutty crunch at the very end. —Julia Moskin
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 side-dish servings
- 1½tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
- ½cup sugar
- 6cloves garlic, puréed
- 3tablespoons red yuzu kosho
- ¼cup mirin
- 1cup/140 grams tempura flour or tempura batter mix
- 1large egg yolk
- 1scant cup/150 grams potato starch
- 1cup plus 3 tablespoons/150 grams Japanese wheat flour or karaage ko
- Canola oil, as needed for deep-frying
- 1head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets
- Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- Lime wedges, for garnish
For the Sauce
For the Tempura Batter
For the Cauliflower
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
775 calories; 36 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 102 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 19 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 193 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the sauce: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the gochujang, sugar, garlic, yuzu kosho, mirin and 1 cup water. Simmer until thickened slightly and reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside at room temperature. Sauce may be made up to two weeks ahead and stored covered and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before serving.
Step
2
Make the tempura batter: Fill a pitcher with 1¾ cups ice-cold water, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the tempura flour (or batter mix), egg yolk and 1 cup of the water. Whisk to blend, then add the potato starch, wheat flour and remaining ¾ cup water. The mixture should have the consistency of thin pancake batter.
Step
3
Fill a deep fryer or large pot halfway with canola oil and bring to 350 degrees. Coat the florets with the batter and, working in batches if necessary, deep-fry until florets have a dark golden crust, 2 to 3 minutes. The crust should be crispy while the cauliflower retains some crunch.
Step
4
Remove browned florets from oil and drain on paper towels. Transfer to a warmed platter and drizzle thoroughly with sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and lime wedges. Serve hot.
Ratings
4
out of 5
396
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Cooking Notes
Britta
You can get gochujang at most Asian supermarkets. But I agree the batter ingredients are unnecesarily complicated. For an easy tempura batter, use a 1:1 ratio of flour and corn starch, plus cold seltzer water and an egg.
kay
Well, considering I have the chili paste and potato starch, and would just use regular flour instead of Japanese flour, and the red yuzu kosho is just a mix of chiles, salt, citrus zest, and garlic, I don't consider it all that exotic. Besides, there's always Amazon.....
Zacharia
why use seltzer water?
BernardS
Great recipe, but impossible to make cuz the ingredients are exotically unavailable.
tvolcan
Ingredients available on Amazon
Phos4D
I have a feeling I'm going to have the same thoughts as a huge majority of readers here: They look and sound great, but unless you have some really decent ethnic markets nearby, the unavailability of several of those ingredients will ruin any chance I have of trying to make it. Could I do some research and perhaps find reasonably close substitutes? Probably. But I would still never know whether they taste like they would were I able to follow the recipe exactly. Too bad. I love cauliflower.
Lynn
John
I thank Milk Street but my local Whole Foods now has 3 varieties of gochujang. The ingredients in this recipe are far more available in 2019 than they were when published.
first time 12/10
Used Tajin (1.5 tablespoons) instead of red yuzu kosho and made tempura batter with one cup flour, one cup corn starch, and 10 oz cold club soda.
AbbyZ.
One late night, I did not have time for tempura so here is what I did. I chopped up 1 cauliflower, sauteed in some avocado oil, until lightly brown, then added 1.5 cups of cold rice to the cauliflower, and stir fry. I combined 2 T gochujang, 2 T sugar, 5 garlic cloves, 3 T Chinese cooking wine, 2 T Tamari into a mini processor and pureed it all into a sauce, then poured it over the cauliflower rice in the pan. Topped it off with 3 scallions minced and 2 T sesame seeds. Excellent flavor!
Kaustubh
Yuzu Kosho was impossible to obtain in grocery stores. Any recommended substitute for that?
Erik B
This was good! Definitely could have been less sweet, I did 1/3 a cup of sugar and was still a bit too sweet. I also added cornstarch to the sauce, it wasn't really thickening without it.
Lyn
The sauce was way too sweet for my taste.
Coral
This is a great opportunity to ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar — or gochujang.
Andrea Burdick
A “head” of cauliflower is not very helpful! Please give an amount, either oz or grams, just something I can use to calculate how much tempura batter I need and how much sauce to make.
klearson
This turned out pretty decent. I wish I had seasoned my cauliflower a bit before frying. A little salt on the inside would make it all come together. I couldn’t find yuzu kosho at Joong Boo so I threw in some wasabi and red curry paste and ketchup, all good!
nick
Check out Mark Bittman recipe for chicken stir fry with ketchup. I know it sounds weird but it is fabulous. Not the exact same as this but fabulous.
Jamie
Used only the boxed tempura batter mix and it turned out just fine!
David TK Hayes
I ended up with a scant 1/3 cup of the sauce and about 2 quarts of cauliflower when done. I thought the cauliflower was totally bland but the sauce was tasty. So not sure what to expect from fried food, but I am a pretty good cook. I will not bother with this one again. proportions are incorrect, and do not have the desire to spend that much time preppeing and frying unless the outcome is really really good
Denise
What’s the pitcher full of cold water for? Don’t see it’s use in the recipe.
Jay S
I am very surprised that in the US you cannot find these ingredients everywhere. I live in Canada, 300 miles north of Montana/North Dakota, and these ingredients are readily available.
Lynn
For tempura batter it is not necessary to use Japanese flour. I took cooking lessons from the wife of one of the post docs in my lab (Japanese, from Japan). She used regular flour, 1 egg, enough water to make a thick slurry, and the trick was to NOT mix it well.
John
I thank Milk Street but my local Whole Foods now has 3 varieties of gochujang. The ingredients in this recipe are far more available in 2019 than they were when published.
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