Hello friends and not yet friends!
We'll come back to mary's test kitchen where we're making vegan food fun again!
This time with a simplified crispy cauliflower wing recipe that you can bake or fry.
Season with dry spices or something saucier.
Either way, you're going to love em!
Start by prepping your cauliflower.
I remove the leaves first so I can focus in on that core.
I want to remove that tough core but minimize any losses.
And crumblies.
Anyone else hate cleaning up cauliflower crumblies?
Next, rub or shave away discoloured bits.
As long the califlower is white and firm under that discoloured spot, it's still good and
edible.
Cut the cauliflower down the core but not through the florets.
This way, you can separate the head into managable chunks but you're not cutting through the
florets and making extra crumblies.
Then separate those chunks down to individual florets.
I want them to be about thumb size and not much bigger.
Making them a bit on the small size will help them cook faster.
And of course, making them about the same size will help them cook evenly whether you're
going to bake or deep-fry.
Eventually, I have 1.2 kilograms of florets.
But I'm going to divide them into 400 gram portions, about 14 ounces each: one batch
for salt and pepper wings, one batch for vegan buffalo wings, and one batch I'll keep in
the fridge for random stir-frys and soups over the next few days.
Rinse the cauliflower under some water, then let it dry as much as possible.
You can do this ahead of time and let them dry further on some clean kitchen towels in
the fridge.
You can cover and store them in the fridge when they're dry and they'll keep well for
3 to 5 days.
Alright, let's make some batter.
This gluten-free batter is super easy.
Combine 3/4 cups of water with 3 tablespoons ground flax seed, 4 tablespoons of cornstarch,
and half a teaspoon of salt.
If you want to use ground chia seed instead of flax, go for it.
They work the same way to gel up and that'll help the mixture cling to the cauliflower.
Let that sit a while, about ten minutes.
While you're waiting you can prep your dry seasonings or sauce.
For the buffalo sauce, I'm using Earth balance buttery spread.
You can use any vegan butter or margerine that you want.
A quarter cup melted.
Then add a quarter cup of a vinegar based hot sauce like Frank's red hot or Tabasco.
A quarter teaspoon of onion powder and a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder.
Mix it all together and you can set that aside for later.
If you're making Chinese salt and pepper wings, prep the seasoning by combining a quarter
teaspoon each of salt, sugar, onion powder, and garlic powder.
An eighth teaspoon of white pepper and a little pinch of Chinese five spice powder.
Now, your batter should be nice and thick.
You can test it by dropping in a few pieces of cauliflower.
Pick one up and let the excess drip off.
You should see a nice thin, even coating clinging to the cauliflower.
This is good so I'm dumping the rest of this batch in.
Use your clean hands to make sure every piece is coated all over.
Once coated, you'll want to move on to the next step right away whether you're baking
or frying.
Baking is definately easier as you can just lay all the pieces out on to a parchment lined
baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes; bake long enough so the batter looks totally dry and cooked on.
Flip the pieces.
Be a little delicate as the batter might want to peel off but if you're careful to pick
up the edges, you should be good.
To get these to crisp up during the second round in the oven, drizzle or spray some cooking
oil over each piece.
I'm only doing half here so you'll be able to see the difference later.
The things I sacrifice for you.
Those bake for 20 more minutes or until they come out nicely browned like this.
The cauliflower will be soft on the inside with a light crispy crust on the outside.
Unless you didn't add oil.
They're going to be kind of chewy around the edges, even the parts that look and sound
crisp aren't in any kind of satisfying way.
Kind of like oil-free french fries.
They're just never the same.
So I really recommend adding the oil.
Because we're making vegan food fun again.
Not sad again.
But I'm going to eat them regardless and add the Chinese salt and pepper seasoning that
we made earlier.
These baked vegan wings are ideal for seasoning with dry spices.
By the way, add half first, then taste because maybe you want the flavour to be less intense.
It's easy to add more but there's little you can do if you add too much for your taste.
Serve them right on a wire rack to keep them crispy for as long as possible but honestly
you have to eat them right away.
Otherwise, the steam from the cauliflower inside will eventually soften everything.
Have them as a snack or as a side along with rice and maybe some Vegan General Tso's.
Or Mapo Tofu.
Or Ginger Beef which coicidentally uses the exact same batter in that recipe.
This is your vegan salt and pepper cauliflower wings and there are no rules.
On the other hand, deep frying really rules.
Especially if you're craving saucy wings.
And you still want to keep some crunch.
Heat up some oil in a pot or wok like me.
You want enough just so the cauliflower will be submerged or mostly submerged.
And you want there to be plenty of room up the sides of your pot or wok in case of bubble
ups.
Use medium high heat and let it get hot enough so when you stick a chopstick or wooden spoon
in like this, bubbles form quickly around it.
Then carefully place your battered cauliflower in.
Don't splash.
I don't like to crowd them either to prevent sticking.
When they're nicely browned like this, take them out and on to a wire rack.
Spread them out for air flow.
When they're all done, give your Buffalo sauce a stir and you can sauce these vegan wings.
I was a bit over excited and dumped everything in, but it's actually better to sauce half
a batch at a time.
That way, the sauce forms a more even coating and you don't drown some pieces and leave
some bare like I kinda did.
Over saucing makes soggy wings.
But the perfect even coat gives you tons of flavour and keeps a crispy crunch.
Find get some store bought vegan ranch sauce or make your own from the hundreds of recipes
available online and this is enough for two to snack on.
Or one hungry hungry hippo.
Or mary.
Like I was the day I filmed this.
It was glorious.
And that's it.
I hope you try this super easy recipe for vegan cauliflower wings the next time you're
feeling snackish for salty, crunchy, glorious wings.
Let me know what other salty snacks you want me to veganize with the hashtag #reciperequest
so I can find it later.
Thanks so much to those who have signed up to be a channel member for $5 a month.
Your support means so much and really helps with the bills like website costs, costs for
supplies, so I can keep doing this.
If you're interested in joining the cause to make vegan food fun again, click the Join
button below.
Thanks also to everyone who has already tried my easy vegan cake doughnut recipes!
They look awesome!
If you want to get featured on the next video, make these cauliflower wings or another recent
recipe and tag me in the photo, not just the caption.
Otherwise, I might miss it.
Make no mistake, I want to see them all!
Next video, I *think* it'll be a What I Ate video.
I'm not promising a particular day *ahem* Wednesday *ahem* but I am promising luscious
vegan food porn that's actually nutritious!
Anyways, I hope you liked this video.
Please give it a thumbs up if you did and comment on which flavour you liked best.
It really helps me out.
And subscribe if you haven't already for more vegan fun food.
Bye for now!