Kung Pao Broccoli

Yes you heard right. Instead of Kung Pao chicken I swapped chicken out and used broccoli. That doesn't sound too good you say? Well let me try to convince you otherwise. Broccoli has to be the least favorite vegetable of... everyone. It's usually bland, a bit bitter, and tastes like nothing. But recently I discovered that's not broccoli's fault, it's the typically cooking method that ruins it. Broccoli can actually taste amazing if it gets cooked and flavored properly, none of this blanching or steaming with salt business of course.

Inspiration: I recently visited Planta Queen and really loved the Ban ban broccoli dish - so I thought I'd give it a go, with my own inventions. (See my full review on Plant Queen here: https://www.eatwithjia.com/2020/02/planta-queen.html) My version wasn't as crunchy but still quite tasty. This took about 45 min from beginning to finish.

Sweet chili sauce:

- 3 tbsp of honey, 1 tsp of hot chili powder (or more if you like it spicy!), 2 tsp of rice vinegar, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of hot pepper flakes
- stir and keep aside

Kung pao broccoli:

- 1 head of broccoli crown and divide the florets into smaller/equal sizes ( I don't even throw out the root - it's all good)
- Thin batter: 5 tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of each: salt, onion powder, garlic powder. mix in water, stir until the batter is somewhat runny ( about 1/4 cup of water or so). I like the batter a bit runny and not to thick for coating.

- heat up oil in pan and turn down heat to medium once oil is hot (throw a little bit of batter in to test and see if it's sizzling)
- dip broccoli florets in batter, coat, and fry until golden brown (2 min per side)
- plate, drizzle the sweet chili sauce on top, shave some Parmesan cheese, with a dash of black pepper on top.

Note: My pan was not too big, and can only fry a handful florets at a time. So I turned my oven on at 350F to keep the 1st batch of pan fried broccoli hot while doing the 2nd and 3rd batch. Also I'm not sure if it's the batter, but the coating didn't turn out as crunchy as I'd hoped. Next time I'll try using breadcrumb coating perhaps - and see if that makes a difference.

So? Ready to skip chicken and have some Kung Pao broccoli with me?