broccoli

I feel like when the weather starts to get chilly is when I want to start frying things. In the summer time, fried food just doesn’t appeal to me. It is heavy and greasy, which sucks in the heat of summer, but is an amazing comfort in the chill of winter and fall. 

Last week, I had the insane pleasure of going to Dirt Candy in New York City. It was hands down in the top 5 meals of my entire life. One of the many dishes I had was the Korean Fried Broccoli. It was so frickin’ delicious. My husband wasn’t with me, so I immediately sent a picture, suggesting(ferociously) that he try to make the dish for me! I found the recipe for it on the internets! We then got to talking about making our own fried broccoli entree, and after careful thought and brainstorming, we came up with a test for Bang Bang Broccoli!

This fried broccoli is so good and filling and comforting, but still light and crisp. The perfect comfort food for a cold night in! The whole recipe has only 12 ingredients (including the oil for frying), the sauce is only 3! A customary Bang Bang sauce has sweet chilli sauce and honey. I thought that was WAY too much sugar, so I went with a simple Vegan mayo, chilli paste and agave. So easy, so sweet and spicy, but not too sweet:) The batter is only 5 ingredients, and everything is just thrown together. After dipping into the batter, you just toss it in panko, and it is ready to get nice and brown and crispy. 

Then a quick drizzle with the Bang Bang sauce and you are ready for one of the best meals ever. My husband and I made some veggie fried rice to go with it, and bam! Oh yeah! You can also use this basic batter and sauce recipe for pretty much anything, I thought about tempeh and tofu, cauliflower and chickpeas. The possibilities are endless. 

Print Recipe

5 from 19 votes

Vegan Bang Bang Broccoli

Asian-inspired broccoli panko fried to perfection drizzled with a creamy sweet and spicy sauce. 

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Author: Lauren Hartmann

Ingredients

Bang Bang Sauce

• 1/4 C. Vegan mayo
• 2 Tbsp. Chili paste
• 1 Tbsp. Agave nectar

Batter

• 1 C. Almond milk
• 1 tsp. Apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 C. All purpose flour
• 1/2 C. Cornstarch
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. Hot sauce

And the rest

• 2 C. Panko bread crumbs
• 1 Head of Broccoli
• Oil for frying
• Chives for garnish(optional)

Instructions

• Make the sauce, whisk together the mayo, chilli paste and agave in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Make the batter, add the apple cider vinegar to the almond milk in a small bowl and let sit for a few minutes to make vegan buttermilk. Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt to a medium sized mixing bowl, then add the hot sauce and almond milk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined.
• Put the panko in a separate bowl.
• Cut broccoli into florets, then heat the oil on medium high in a large pan, I like to use a cast iron skillet, you need about 1/2-1 inch of oil at the bottom of the pan.
• Dip each floret of broccoli in the batter, then into the panko and coat thoroughly. Once the oil is hot add the broccoli to the hot oil. Fry for about a minute or two on each side, or until brown and crispy. Drizzle with sauce and serve immediately.

Notes

If you want to bake the broccoli instead of frying it, bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until it browns.