In season, fresh cauliflower is a vegetable I love to pick up at the supermarket and marvel at. I don¡¯t always have predetermined plans for my freshly acquired produce, but this recipe is for just such occasions.
Whole-roasting cauliflower might seem an odd thing to do in already warm weather, but it¡¯s an easy addition to your repertoire while the veggie is in-season and cheap. It can be served as a warm side, a cold salad, with leftovers, as a bento filler, a bibimbap topping or a curry add-on. It truly is the simple dish that keeps on giving.
Piccalilli (aside from being fun to say) is a style of lightly spiced cauliflower mustard pickle, the result of South Asian flavors integrated into colonial British cuisine. Rather than a literal piccalilli, here the term is more of an adjective describing a tart dressing flavored with turmeric and mustard to pour over a roasted brassica.
The hot and sour base is similar to the Japanese vegetable dip karashi-su-miso, which is balanced out here with sweet Kyoto-style ²õ²¹¾±°ì²â¨ miso. The sauce itself can be used to dress any crudites, and the volume below is likely more than you¡¯ll need for one meal. Any extra could easily become a salad dressing with the addition of a little olive oil or mayonnaise. That said, I have omitted oil from this recipe since we will be using plenty in the roasting process.
Serves 4-6
Cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 25 milliliters olive oil
- 1 large whole head of cauliflower
- Salt and cracked pepper
- 100 grams ²õ²¹¾±°ì²â¨ miso
- 65 grams rice vinegar
- 20 grams ²õ³ó¾±´Ç°ì¨Âá¾± (salted °ì¨Âá¾± mold)
- 50 grams mirin cooking sake
- 2 grams karashi mustard powder
- 2 grams turmeric powder
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. From underneath your cauliflower, carefully cut on an inward angle next to the florets to remove the stalk.
2. Place the cauliflower on a lined baking tray, rub with olive oil, season with salt and cracked pepper and cover with foil. Place it into the oven for an initial 30-minute bake.
3. Mix together the ²õ²¹¾±°ì²â¨ miso, vinegar, ²õ³ó¾±´Ç°ì¨Âá¾±, mirin, mustard and tumeric powder until it becomes a smooth, thin paste. This can be done in a bowl or food processor. If your ²õ²¹¾±°ì²â¨ miso is particularly sweet, the mirin can be replaced with water.
4. After 30 minutes, remove the foil from your cauliflower and return to the oven uncovered for up to an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. Results may vary ¡ª my cauliflower was quite yellow even before roasting.
5. Remove from the oven and, if serving warm, plate and spoon some dressing over the top. If serving chilled, let cool before refrigerating.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.