Since we moved to LA about a month ago, I haven’t had much motivation to cook for the blog. The complete newness of the geography, culture and lifestyle here has been so overwhelming (in a good way) that thinking of new ideas for dishes keeps getting pushed back with the countless discoveries of restaurants, beaches, places to visit and things to do here. The constant assembly of dishes in my head had stopped for the first time in years, but I didn’t miss it or feel its absence.

But we are settling in fine now, establishing a routine and getting familiar with the novelty of living here. I was recently inspired to cook this dish after discovering an Asian market out of the corner of my eye on the way to a job interview in Torrance last week.

After picking up some gorgeous green cauliflower, striking out on finding fresh bird’s eye chilis and scoring some Onigoroshi, I exited the store with a singular mission to make General Tso’s Tofu, but with the green cauliflower as the base.

This dish is all about crispy texture and clingy sauce working together to create the perfect bite. To achieve that ratio, I combined equal parts of cornstarch for crispness, AP flour for body and rice flour for a touch of softness, then adding cold fizzy water to create a tempura-like lightness throughout.

Once fried, the florets are tossed into a gingery-garlicky sauce slightly thickened with a cornstarch slurry until evenly coated, then served right away with a touch of heat, salty chopped peanuts and crisp scallions for a decadent and addictive dish.