During the wine tour of Australia last year we had lunch at the Nick O’Leary winery in the Canberra district. Both the wines and the restaurant are recommended. One dish we all liked very much was deep fried cauliflower. We liked it so much that someone from our group asked for the recipe. They didn’t provide exact proportions, but with some experimenting here is my version. The combination of cauliflower with smoked paprika and coconut milk works very well. At O’Leary this was served with garnishes of pomegranate seeds, smoked chilli salt, guindilla peppers, and raw fennel marinated in rice vinegar, fish sauce, mirin, and sugar, but I’ve kept it simple to make it easier to pair with wine. Instead of blanching the cauliflower and marinating afterwards, I decided to cook the cauliflower sous vide with the marinade. This preserves the texture and flavor of the cauliflower.

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a side

• 450 grams (1 lb) cauliflower florets
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp spicy smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 250 ml (1 cup) coconut milk
• cornflour for dusting
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Instructions

Cut or break the cauliflower into florets.

Combine 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp spicy smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp onion powder in a large bowl.

Whisk to mix.

Add 250 ml coconut milk.

Whisk to mix.

Add the cauliflower florets and toss until the cauliflower is completed coated with the marinade.

Transfer to a bag and vacuum seal with a chamber vacuum sealer, or use a ziploc bag and the water displacement method.

Cook sous vide for 1 hour at 85C/185F.

Chill in cold water. Refrigerate and allow to marinate overnight. (O’Leary says 5 days and I have done that, but I don’t think it makes much of a difference.)

Heat a large amount of oil to 180C/350F.

Drain the cauliflower, shaking off excess marinade.

Dust the cauliflower with cornflour.

Deep fry at 180C/350F until golden brown. Allow the cauliflower pieces to glide into the hot oil one by one rather than all at once to prevent them from sticking together and to avoid cooling off the oil by too much. As always with deep frying: do not fry too much at once, so the oil can maintain its temperature.

Allow to drain on kitchen paper before serving. Serve at once, because the cauliflower will become soggy if you allow it to sit for too long. You could keep it warm in the oven at about 125C/250F while you are frying the cauliflower in batches.