The Best Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
Prep
15m
Cook
20m
Total
35m
Bigly says
Listen. Cauliflower wings. CAULIFLOWER. WINGS. I can hear the eye-rolling already — I read people the way other men read books, it's a gift, I've always had it — you're thinking, 'Bigly, cauliflower is not chicken.' And you're RIGHT. Cauliflower is not chicken. Cauliflower is BETTER. In this one application. Just this one. Don't twist my words. I love a chicken wing. I have eaten more chicken wings than any single human in recorded history, look it up, I had people look it up — but for THIS, for the Buffalo treatment, the deep fry, the hot sauce bath, the blue cheese situation, cauliflower is the move and it's not even close. It's a slaughter.
Why? Because cauliflower has CRAGS. Beautiful little crags. Crevices. Pockets. Architecture. And those crags HOLD the sauce. They drink it. They marry it. They become one with the sauce in a way no chicken wing has ever managed in the history of game-day appetizers. The Buffalo sauce CLINGS. It coats. It sticks. A guy named Ramón fried these for me one Sunday — Ramón knows fryers, Ramón has FORGOTTEN more about hot oil than most chefs will ever learn — and the first bite, his eyes went a little wet, he didn't say a word, he just nodded. The Ramón nod. The highest honor.
Now most so-called chefs will tell you to bake these. BAKE them. Look, baking is for cookies. Baking is for bread. Baking a cauliflower wing gives you a soggy little vegetable that the sauce slides right off of, like rain off a windshield, just GONE. We fry. We fry these things. And if you've got a problem with that, take it up with the chickens, they were fried first, they set the precedent. Beer batter. Hot oil. Frank's. Butter. Done. Tremendous.
Ingredients
- 1large head of cauliflower(about 2 lbs, cut into bite-sized florets)
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- 1/2 cupcornstarch(this is the crisp insurance policy)
- 1 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 1 cupcold lager beer(cold. ICE cold. Warm beer batter is a hate crime.)
- 4 cupsneutral oil for frying
- 3/4 cupFrank's RedHot original(Frank's. Always Frank's. End of discussion.)
- 6 tbspunsalted butter
- 1 tspwhite vinegar
- 1 tspWorcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cupblue cheese dressing (for serving)
- 4 ribscelery sticks (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Pat the cauliflower florets very dry with paper towels. Surface moisture is the enemy of crispy batter.
- 2
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- 3
Pour in the cold beer and whisk until smooth. The batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter — if it's too thick, add a splash more beer.
- 4
Heat oil in a deep heavy pot or Dutch oven to 375°F (190°C). Use a thermometer.
- 5
Working in batches, dip cauliflower florets into the batter, let excess drip off, and gently lower into the oil. Don't crowd — fry 6-8 pieces at a time.
- 6
Fry 4-5 minutes per batch, flipping once, until deeply golden and crisp all over. Transfer to a wire rack set over a sheet pan (NOT paper towels — paper towels steam the bottom).
- 7
Between batches, let the oil return to 375°F.
- 8
Make the Buffalo sauce: melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in Frank's, vinegar, and Worcestershire. Cook 1 minute until glossy and combined. Keep warm.
- 9
Once all cauliflower is fried, transfer to a large bowl. Pour the warm Buffalo sauce over and toss gently to coat every piece.
- 10
Serve immediately with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
One more thing
And there it is. The wing. The cauliflower wing. The BEST cauliflower wing. You're going to make this for the game, for movie night, for a Tuesday because you can, and the bowl will be empty in eleven minutes flat. I've timed it. Eleven minutes. Make a double batch. Always a double batch — have I said that already? I'm saying it again. The blue cheese is non-negotiable. Serve these with ranch and I cannot help you, that's a personal problem, that's between you and your conscience. Celery on the side. Cold beer in the hand. Tremendous evening. Tremendous.
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