
I made this sweet and sour cauliflower as a vegan alternative to sweet and sour chicken. I actually like it a lot better this way. The battered cauliflower is firm and meaty enough to give a satisfying mouthfeel and kind of juicy because of the moisture in the vegetable. If you use a fresh cauliflower, the taste is also quite neutral and not at all cabbagey.
To create a firm, crispy layer on the cauliflower, you need to deep-fry the cauliflower florets twice. The first fry to soften the cauliflower and the second fry to crisp up the batter. The same reason why you double fry potatoes.
Plum sauce
You can buy almost all of the ingredients in the supermarket. However you might need to go to an Asian grocery store to find the plum sauce. Plum sauce is a sweet and slightly sour sauce with a hint of chili. It is sometimes served with Peking duck alongside the bean sauce. My favourite plum sauce is Mee Chun‘s . It has a sweet and fruity flavour with a subtle hint of chilli. If you can’t find plum sauce, you can replace it with apricot jam with a pinch of chili flakes. Although I do recommend you give the original plum sauce a try.

Can you make Chinese sweet and sour cauliflower ahead of time?
You could make the entire dish ahead of time, but it definitely will soften the batter around the cauliflower. While leftovers are still very satisfying to get the best out of the dish it’s best made fresh. However, you can make parts ahead of time which saves up some time before serving. I’ll explain the cooking process and tell you how to best cook in advance.
Necessary materials
- Kitchen scales
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Bowls
- Heavy pan for frying
- Fine mesh skimmer
- Wok or deep skillet
- Tray covered with paper towel
Frying cauliflower
Clean the cauliflower and cut into small florets. Mix the batter ingredients together.
Heat a heavy pan with flavourless oil and use a wooden skewer to check the temperature. The oil is hot enough when bubbles start forming around the skewer. If the bubbles move very fast, the oil is too hot. Lower the temperature and wait for the oil to cool down a bit.
Dip the cauliflower florets into the batter one at a time, drain excess and lower it carefully into the oil. Fry the cauliflower in small batches until golden brown and drain on paper towel.
Use your skimmer to clean the oil of little batter debris. It keeps your oil fresh and gives a better result.
Let the oil come to temperature again and fry the cauliflower a second time in larger batches and drain on clean paper towel.
Never let anything drop into the hot oil from a great height, otherwise it will splash. I prefer to use chopsticks, so my hands stay clean and free to grab other things. Use thin tongs if you can’t hold the cauliflower well with chopsticks. You don’t want to accidentally drop the cauliflower into the oil from a great distance.
Sweet-sour sauce
This sauce is the same as my original sweet and sour chicken . Heat a wok or large frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil. Add the ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the bell pepper and onion. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, pour over the vegetables and heat through. Make sure the vegetables don’t go too soft. Taste the sauce and add more sugar or vinegar if desired. Add the dissolved cornstarch and let the sauce thicken. Add the fried cauliflower and coat with the sauce. Serve immediately with rice.
Make ahead
You can make the sauce well in advance. I would save the frying of the cauliflower for the same day you wish to eat it.
Fry the cauliflower only once and let it cool at room temperature. Continue making the sauce without adding the dissolved cornstarch. Keep the bell pepper and onion on the firm side, because you will reheat the sauce later. Store at room temperature or let cool and store in the refrigerator.
To finish the dish, fry the cauliflower a second time. Reheat the sauce in a large pan and add extra water if needed. Finish with the dissolved cornstarch and wait until the sauce has thickened. Mix the fried cauliflower with the sauce and serve with rice.

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