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Air-Fried Korean Chili Cauliflower (Vegan)

Air-fried Korean chili cauliflower over jasmine rice with a sticky gochujang glaze. Crisp, lightly battered cauliflower gets tossed hot in a thickened chili sauce, then served with cool cucumber ribbons for contrast.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Asian, Korean
Calories: 290
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cauliflower and batter
  • 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 0.5 cup flour
  • 0.5 cup cornstarch
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 0.25 tsp pepper
  • 0.75 cup sparkling water Use cold; volume may vary slightly depending on batter thickness.
Korean glaze
  • 3 tbsp gochujang
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger, grated
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
For serving
  • 1 cup steamed jasmine rice
  • 1 cucumber ribbons Cut with a peeler for thin ribbons.
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp green onion Thinly sliced.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Make the batter
  1. In a bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together until evenly combined.
  2. Whisk in the cold sparkling water until you have a light batter that coats cauliflower.
Air-fry the cauliflower
  1. Add the cauliflower florets to the batter and toss until fully coated.
  2. Transfer to a sheet pan and air fry at 400°F for 18-20 min, flipping halfway for even crisping.
Thicken and toss with glaze
  1. In a small saucepan, simmer gochujang, soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, and rice vinegar for 3 min until thick.
  2. Toss the hot cauliflower immediately in the thick glaze until every piece is coated.
Serve
  1. Serve the glazed cauliflower over steamed jasmine rice with cucumber ribbons.
  2. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion.

Notes

For the best crisp, keep the cauliflower coated but don’t let it sit in batter too long before air-frying. Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container up to 3 days; reheat in the air fryer to re-crisp if needed. Freezing isn’t recommended because the crisp coating softens. If you want a gluten-free option, swap the soy sauce for tamari and use gluten-free flour/cornstarch.