Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Chile-Garlic Sauce

This Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Chile-Garlic Sauce is a spicy and slightly acidic veggie-forward stir-fry with some added protein from ground pork. It's finished with lightly toasted crispy panko bread crumbs and sliced scallions for a pop of color. Serve it with plain steamed rice to soak up the delicious and flavorful sauce!

(This recipe was originally published in October 2013, but was updated with new photos and content in 2023).

Although it has a fairly extensive ingredient list, this Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Chile-Garlic Sauce is considerably easy to make and is absolutely delicious. It's somewhat spicy with a little acid and sweetness to balance it out.

I love the slight crunch from the cauliflower with the meaty addition of ground pork. Serve it as a side dish or a main dish served with rice to soak up the flavorful juices.

While many of the ingredients can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store, the tobanjan/doubanjiang or chile bean sauce is the only product that might be a bit more challenging to find.

It's also sometimes referred to as "broad bean chili paste" or "Sichuanese chili bean sauce." If you have access to a specialty Asian market, you can definitely find everything for this stir-fried cauliflower recipe there.

Ingredient notes

• Rice Vinegar: Use regular or unseasoned rice vinegar. Seasoned rice vinegar contains added salt and sugar. Although it may vary by brands, unseasoned rice vinegar often has a lime green cap and label while seasoned has yellow or orange color accents on the cap and label.
• Chili Bean Paste: Chili bean paste or chili bean sauce (La Doubanjiang 辣豆瓣酱) is a spicy fermented bean paste traditionally made with broad (fava) beans, red chili peppers, salt, and wheat flour. It's fairly spicy and salty, somewhat chunky, and a common ingredient in many classic Sichuan dishes. The actual English labels may vary from brand to brand, such as "Broad Bean Paste with Red Chili Oil." Although they won't provide an identical flavor/spice level, you could try substituting chili bean paste with Indonesian sambal oelek, Korean gochujang, or sriracha for an alternative spicy element.
• Cauliflower: Select a head of cauliflower that is firm and tight without bruised looking spots, softness or discoloration.
• Panko: Panko are Japanese style bread crumbs. They're larger and crispier than traditional bread crumbs.
• Ground Pork: You'll need half a pound of ground pork to make this stir-fried cauliflower with chile-garlic sauce. If you don't eat pork, you could substitute ground beef, turkey, or chicken.

How to make it

First make the chile-garlic sauce. Stir chicken stock, soy sauce, vinegar, chile bean sauce, oyster sauce, honey, sriracha, and salt together in a small bowl.

Then, sprinkle the cornstarch over 1 tablespoon water in a small cup or ramekin and stir to dissolve it.

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and ginger and cook just until they're browned. Stir in the stock mixture and bring to a simmer.

Mix the cornstarch and stir it into the sauce. Cook until the sauce is thickened. Remove it from the heat.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the cauliflower florets and cook it until they're just tender. Drain in a colander and rinse it under cold running water. Let them cool completely, then pat it dry with paper towels.

Heat a large wok or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the panko and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is toasted. Transfer to a plate or small bowl until ready to serve.

Return the wok to medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until it's hot but not smoking. Add ground pork and cook, stirring often and breaking up the meat with the side of a wooden spoon, until the pork is browned.

Stir in the chile sauce (PHOTO 1) then add the cauliflower (PHOTO 2).

Cook, stirring often, until the cauliflower is heated through.

Transfer the mixture to a serving dish. Top it with the toasted panko and sliced scallion. Serve stir-fried cauliflower with chile-garlic sauce hot with rice.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Expert tips

Make Ahead Suggestions: The chile sauce can be prepared, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 5 days. The cauliflower can be blanched and then refrigerated in a covered container for up to 2 days.

If you want to make this stir-fried cauliflower gluten-free, use gluten-free panko, gluten-free soy sauce, gluten-free oyster sauce and replace the tobanjan (chile bean paste) with a gluten-free alternative, such as more sriracha or sambal oelek (Indonesian chile paste).

Other recipes you may like

• Chinese Stir-Fried Oyster Mushrooms with Chicken
• Sichuanese "Send-the-Rice-Down" Chopped Celery with Ground Beef
• Stir-Fried Greens with Dried Shrimp
• Pork Lo Mein
• Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)
• Chinese Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

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