Sweet and spicy might be my favourite flavour combinations. I mean, sweet and salty is up there too but the spice has the slight edge to put it at the top of my list. I love cooking with sweet and spicy, it’s very common in many Asian cuisines.

A great vehicle for these flavours is cauliflower! Because it is quite plain on its own, it can take on many flavours and turn out amazing. My usual go-to with cauliflower is making buffalo cauliflower bites which are spicy but not too spicy. That’s what inspired these maple and sriracha bites. Switching up the ingredients in the sauce gave these bites a little Asian flare.

I wanted something that would be sweet but still have a kick of spice at the back of your throat. You can always adjust the amount of sriracha to make it more/less prominent in the sauce.

If you have never made battered cauliflower like this, you should really try it. This is a much yummier preparation because it gets crispy but a little chewy and the cauliflower is so tender inside. Plus, it is baked so it is a healthy method of cooking.

For those of you who may not want any spice at all, you could follow the same steps for the battered cauliflower, bake for the 20 minutes as written then toss them with any other sauce of your choosing (ie. honey garlic, sweet and sour) and bake again.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets (bite sized)
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• Sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, salt, garlic powder, pepper and water. Mixture should be a similar consistency to pancake batter.
3. Add cauliflower and toss to get everything coated. Spread into single layer on pan and bake 20 minutes.
4. While it is baking, combine maple syrup, oil and sriracha. After 20 minutes, remove cauliflower from oven and toss (in large bowl) with maple-sriracha mixture.
5. Return to pan and bake another 5-10 minutes until cauliflower is fully cooked and outside is beginning to caramelize.
6. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve!