
Vegan, delicious and easy crispy sticky cauliflower coated in Asian style sweet sesame sauce. Serve it as an appetiser, bar snack or serve with rice for a simple meatless weeknight meal.
One of the most popular chinese take out style meals of all time, this sticky saucy sesame cauliflower is one of my favourite restaurant copy cat recipe to make at home. Soft from inside, with a crispy tempura style crunchy exterior, coated in the most delicious sweet sesame sauce that is sticky and yet prevents the cauliflower florets from getting soggy.

I have seen variations of this sticky sesame cauliflower recipe online that claim to be copy cat versions of General Tso's that look so good, almost like the perfect vegetarian version of General Tso's chicken. I love how this crispy cauliflower is so easy to make and one of the best things to make for a sinful, lip-smacking appetizer recipe that is perfect to serve as a bar snack or enjoy as a main meal with sesame rice noodles or just plain rice or vegetable ginger garlic fried rice, that would be so perfect.
This crispy cauliflower recipe is sweet, lightly spicy, easy to make, super crunchy and absolutely perfect asian style appetizer recipe that is so fun to make. I also have a bonus tip listed in the recipe card that is perfect when re-heating cauliflower if eating the next day or how to make this vegan sesame cauliflower extra crispy (almost like a crunchy candy coating)

Enough about the crunchy exterior, lets move on to the sauce... quick and easy asian style sweet sauce simply made with soy sauce, sriracha, vegetable stock and thickened with corn flour/ corn starch slurry. Lots of sesame seeds (raw or toasted) are added and finally the crunchy fried crispy cauliflower that is well coated with the sweet sticky Asian sauce with chinese flavors.

How to make sticky sesame crispy cauliflower?
Tempura style batter for crunchy cauliflower
The secret to make really crispy cauliflower is to make a tempura style batter that has all purpose flour, rice flour and cold soda water. Add some salt and pepper, cauliflower florets and mix well until every piece of cauliflower is coated in this batter. Add these florets one by one to hot oil and cook until golden brown and crispy.

Sticky Asian Sauce Recipe
Just a simple mix of vegetable stock, (this is the cube I use), soy sauce, sriracha, sesame seeds and corn flour slurry to thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is nicely thickened and glossy, add the cauliflower and mix well.

How to prevent the crunchy cauliflower from getting soggy?
It takes overall less than 30 minutes to make this recipe and the sauce takes up just about 5 to 10 minutes. I highly recommend frying up the cauliflower (no double fry method required) until golden brown. Then transfer the crispy cauliflower to a baking sheet lined with aluminium and place in the oven at temperature 160 degrees, just to keep the cauliflower florets warm and crunchy. When your sauce is ready, add the cauliflower to the sauce and enjoy.
Tips to make sticky sesame cauliflower extra crispy?
Totally optional, but highly recommended! Post photography, when it was time to eat, I transferred the cooked sticky sesame cauliflower back to the aluminium lined baking sheet and baked for about 10-12 minutes at 200 degree celsius. Result: lightly charred, caramelised candy coated cauliflower florets that made them even more crispy! Elevated the entire experience - do give this a try if you have additional 10 mins in hand.

What to serve with vegetarian sticky sesame cauliflower?
- ginger garlic vegetarian fried rice
- sesame rice noodles
- vegetarian hakka noodles
- asian style pan fried noodles
Here is the video for how to make sticky sesame cauliflower

Sticky Sesame Crispy Cauliflower
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan, delicious and easy crispy sticky cauliflower coated in Asian style sweet sesame sauce. Serve it as an appetiser, bar snack or serve with rice for a simple meatless weeknight meal.
Ingredients
Crispy Cauliflower:
- 3 cups cauliflower florets or 400 grams (measured after cutting)
- 1/2 cup regular all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 3/4 cup + 1-2 tbsp soda water (see notes)
- salt
- pepper
- oil for deep frying
Sticky sesame sauce:
- 1 tbsp corn flour or corn starch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock (see notes)
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (dark or light)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic (minced)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- spring onions for garnish
Instructions
- Crispy Cauliflower: To a bowl, add flour, rice flour, salt, pepper and soda water. Mix well. Add cauliflower florets and mix until every floret is well coated. Deep fry until golden brown and keep aside (see notes for how to sustain crispy-ness)
- Sticky Sesame Sauce: To a bowl, add corn starch (corn flour), water, vegetable stock (see note), soy sauce, sriracha and garlic. Mix well. Add to a pan and cook for a minute on low flame for 10-12 seconds. Add sesame seeds and cook additional minute or two until the sauce has thickened.ย
- Add crispy cauliflower and mix well until every floret is well coated with the sauce. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve.
- Additional step to make them extra crispy in notes (requires oven for 10-12 minutes)
Notes
- Soda water is essential for this batter to give crispy cauliflower.
- Keep the cauliflower crispy post frying: Transfer the crispy cauliflower to a baking sheet lined with aluminium and place in the oven at temperature 160 degrees, just to keep the cauliflower florets warm and crunchy (10-15 minutes while you make your sauce). When your sauce is ready, add the cauliflower to the sauce and enjoy.ย
- If you dont have access to vegetable stock, mix one cube of this cube with hot water.
- Extra crispy cauliflower: Transfer the cooked sticky sesame cauliflower back to the aluminium lined baking sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes at 200 degree celsius. Result: lightly charred, caramelised candy coated cauliflower florets that made them even more crispy! Elevated the entire experience - do give this a try if you have additional 10 mins in hand.ย
Keywords: vegan, vegetarian, appetizer, cauliflower
Wow! I can imagine the crunch through the pictures. Love this recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the recipe ๐
this sounds delicious! i might try a low fat version of this.
Hope you enjoy ๐
This is the best thing I have ever made with cauliflower, thanks so much !!
So glad you liked it. Thank you for trying ๐