Cauliflower Adobo

A vegetarian spin on Filipino adobo: big cauliflower wedges get a hard sear, then braise in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and bay until tender and glossy. Grab a large head of cauliflower at the market and spoon it all over rice.

Serves 4 · 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower (2½ to 3 pounds)
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 3 tablespoons canola oil, plus more as needed
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons raw or light brown sugar
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 Thai chile, halved lengthwise, or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Pull off the leaves and trim the woody stem, then cut the cauliflower through the core into 8 wedges. Season both sides with salt and pepper, and save any bits that fall off.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in batches, lay the wedges in cut side down and leave them alone until deeply browned underneath, 3 to 4 minutes. Move them to a plate and repeat, adding oil as needed.
3. Return all the wedges to the pan, browned side up. Add ¼ cup water, the loose cauliflower bits, the 2 teaspoons pepper, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, bay leaves and chile.
4. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the cauliflower is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Uncover, raise the heat to medium-high and cook, spooning the sauce over the cauliflower now and then, until it's tender and the sauce has reduced to about ¾ cup, 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Serve with plenty of sauce and a scattering of scallions, if using.

Tips

• To have rice ready at the same time, start it first: bring 1¾ cups water to a boil, stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup long-grain rice, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 18 minutes. Leave it covered off the heat until the adobo is done, then fluff.

Adapted from NYT Cooking.