Oven Fried Cauliflower, an Ode to Spice Table

Recently for my birthday my friend LT took me to The Spice Table, a new restaurant that opened up in Los Angeles.  I was excited to try it since it was a fusion of Vietnamese and Singaporean cuisine.  The restaurant space is fabulous, with an intimate small bar at the entrance that allows you to watch the cooks as they cook up satays and other dishes in their wood burning oven.  The main dining room is enclosed by brick walls with fabulous lighting features that are enclosed in old fashioned bird cages. 

One of the dishes we had that is now my latest obsession is their fried cauliflower (pictured below).   Lightly fried in a crisp delicate batter and served with a fish sauce based dipping sauce, this dish is perfection.  I wanted to try to make this dish at home but healthier!  So I decided to try an oven fried version with a more Italian twist.

Here are a couple of my other favorite dishes I’ve had there in the times that I’ve gone back.  Their beef rendang and their kon loh mee.  Sooo delish!  If you are in LA, I definitely recommend checking this place out.  Did I also mention that they have 4oz beer tastings as well? 

Oven Fried Cauliflower

inspired by Spice Table

1 Bag of Cauliflower flowerets
1/3 cup egg whites
1 cup panko
1/3 cup parmesan
salt
pepper

1.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.  Pour eggs whites into a bowl and season the mixture with salt and pepper.  In a second bowl mix the parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs together. 

2.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  Take each cauliflower floweret and dip in egg whites and then roll into panko mixture.  Repeat and evenly line the baking sheet. 

3.  Lightly spray the cauliflower with the cooking spray before putting into the oven.  Bake for 25-30 minutes. 

This would go great with marinara sauce for dipping or even some yogurt mixed with fresh herbs.  I wanted to keep things simple and just squeezed lemon over them to brighten things up.  These were yummy and had a great crunch, I want to keep playing with this recipe to get a thicker coating on the cauliflower.  Did you also see the Cauliflower recipe on theKitchn the other day?  Crazy delicious, you can see it here!!