Stewed Cauliflower in Cream Sauce

This Chinese-style cauliflower dish combines wok technique with a silky cream sauce that is lighter than it sounds. Cauliflower florets get a quick stir-fry in garlic-infused peanut oil, then simmer briefly in stock and dry sherry before a cornstarch-thickened sauce gets finished with milk and a final glaze of oil.

The garlic treatment here is classic Cantonese: smash a whole clove, let it flavor the oil for about 30 seconds, then remove it before it browns and turns bitter. That infused oil becomes the cooking base for everything that follows.

Straw mushrooms and Tientsin cabbage (a salted, fermented Chinese cabbage) add umami depth that turns plain cauliflower into something far more interesting. The optional shrimp or crab goes in with the cabbage if you want to make it a main course.

Chef Tips

• Cut the cauliflower florets small, about the size of straw mushrooms, so everything cooks at the same rate and looks uniform on the plate.
• Build the sauce thick before adding the milk. The cornstarch slurry should give you a heavy, glossy sauce. The milk thins it into the right consistency.
• Add the milk slowly while stirring. Pouring it all at once can drop the temperature and give you a lumpy, broken sauce.
• The final half teaspoon of peanut oil stirred in at the end adds a subtle gloss and richness that makes the sauce look restaurant-quality.

Variations

• Use broccoli florets in place of cauliflower for a greener, slightly more assertive version.
• Add diced water chestnuts for extra crunch.
• Swap the dry sherry for Shaoxing wine for a more authentic Chinese flavor.