Penang Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches
Out of all the Thai curries that I know, panang is by far my favorite. So when I decided to use that loved seasoning paste as the base for a sauce for wings at a Meatwave last summer, I also wanted to craft a way for my non-meat eating guests to also partake in something I love so much. Figuring out a good delivery method that utilized the grill proved to be a bit of a head scratcher though, but once I started to think along the lines of using the panang paste as part of a salad dressing, everything began to fall into place and I was quite pleased with having crafted these pretty unique panang cauliflower salad sandwiches.
Most anyone who's put together a Thai curry paste from scratch before knows they're traditionally not vegetarian since shrimp paste is used to embed a salty and savory quality. So when I made a double recipe of a panang paste, I stopped before that final ingredient, split the paste in half, and then only added the shrimp paste to portion that would be used on the wings, leaving the other batch totally vegetarian friendly. If you're buying store bought panang paste, just check the ingredients because brands seem split on whether they add any seasonings derived from seafood.
When it came to the cauliflower, I waffled back and forth on how to season it. On one hand, the panang paste would render the dressing so flavorful that the simple combo of salt, pepper, and oil should have been enough. On the other hand, I've made grilled curried cauliflower a bunch of times and really love it, and thought that the seasoning may actually fit in and enhance the final dish. I kind of split the difference and decided to do a scaled back seasoning that only brought in turmeric, white pepper, and chili powder on top of the salt and oil.
Once oiled and seasoned, I placed the florets—cut into large pieces to help prevent them from slipping through the grates—near, but not directly over, the coals of a two-zone fire where all the charcoal was situated on one side of the grate. Then with the grill covered, it was a waiting game to see when the florets picked up some nice color and were also tender throughout. I checked on the cooking at a few points and moved the cauliflower around as needed so pieces that were cooking faster got moved further from the fire and vice versa. The total cooking time clocked in just north of twenty minutes on this day.
Once done, I brought the cauliflower indoors and roughly chopped it all. I then created the salad dressing which married the panang paste with the required mayonnaise along with brown sugar, lime juice, shallots, cilantro, scallions, and peanuts. The mixture tasted like it was still lacking something though, so I took clues from the wing sauce I had just put together and was happy with and added in coconut cream and tamarind concentrate, which added the missing notes.
I did all this the day before I was going to serve these sandwiches, which meant on the afternoon of the actual cookout, my prep was pretty minimal. I picked up baguettes as my bread of choice, and split those, lightly oiled the cut sides, and toasted them on the grill. Then to assemble, I lined the bottom halves of the bread with cucumber slices and spooned on the cauliflower salad to the desired amount and served.
These sandwiches represented a whole new way for me to love panang curry. The paste itself was mellowed by the mayonnaise and cauliflower, but still delivered the extremely deep and complex flavor that grabs my heart. The mellowing also meant these were not overtly spicy, but it did have a nice medium heat that blended well with the toasted and herbal flavors in a very cohesive manner. Between the crusty baguette and the salad, these sandwiches were plenty hearty, which is something I'm often after in my recipes made for my vegetarian constituency because I don't want any of my guests to go home not feeling fully satisfied. If you were to ask me to think of a vegetarian-friendly recipe using panang curry, I doubt this dish would ever roll out of the top of my head, but I'm glad my brain got here because these ended up being some pretty special sandwiches.
Penang Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches
- Yield 4 servings
- Prep 25 Minutes
- Cook 20 Minutes
- Total 45 Minutes
Ingredients
- For the Cauliflower
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Thai toasted chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon palm or light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into large florets
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- For the Salad
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice from 1 or 2 limes
- 2 tablespoons panang curry paste
- 1 teaspoon palm or light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
- 1/4 cup finely sliced scallions
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped roasted peanuts
- 2 large makrut lime leaves, hard central stem removed and discarded, leaves finely chopped
- Kosher salt, to taste
- For the Sandwiches
- 2 baguettes, cut into 2 equal portions and sliced lengthwise
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
Procedure
- To make the cauliflower: In a small bowl, combine turmeric, salt, chili powder, palm or brown sugar, and white pepper. Place cauliflower in a large bowl, add in olive oil and spice mixture. Toss until cauliflower is evenly coated in oil and seasoning.
- Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Place cauliflower on cool side of grill close to, but not directly over, the fire. Cover and cook until tender all the way through, about 20 minutes, flipping and moving cauliflower around as needed for even cooking. Transfer cauliflower to a cutting board and roughly chop.
- To make the salad: In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, coconut cream, lime juice, curry paste, palm or brown sugar, and tamarind concentrate. Add in chopped cauliflower, cilantro, shallots, scallions, peanuts, and lime leaves. Toss all ingredients with a spoon of rubber spatula until evenly distributed and all cauliflower is well coated in dressing. Season with salt to taste.
- Brush cut sides of baguettes lightly with olive oil. Place baguettes on hot side of grill, cut side down, and toast until just starting to brown around the edges. Transfer baguettes to a serving platter and line bottom halves with cucumber slices. Spoon desired amount of cauliflower salad on top of cucumbers, set top half of baguette in place, and serve immediately.
