Transforming humble broccoli and cauliflower into a spicy, savoury salad with a punchy gochujang salad dressing and pops of raw apple cucumber and wombok for a refreshing balance.
Trim broccoli head and cut into small florets to yield 2 cups. Repeat with cauliflower.
In a large mixing bowl, place broccoli and cauliflower florets and coat with olive oil and season with salt.
Roast broccoli and cauliflower in oven for about 10 minutes until you start to get a char on one side. Turn broccoli and cauliflower florets around and roast again for about 8-10 minutes.
Thinly slice apple cucumber into rounds. If you have a slightly larger apple cucumber, cut the rounds into quarters.
Slice 2 wombok leaves into thin strips.
Cut scallion (spring onions) into small rounds.
Over medium heat, toast sesame seeds in fry pan until golden brown.
Salad Dressing
In a small mixing bowl, place gochujang, doenjang and water.
Mix until you have a smooth paste.
Add sesame oil, soy sauce and honey.
Mix until well combined.
Assembly
Use a large platter and place apple cucumber slices, and cut wombok on the bottom.
Layer with roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
Dress well with spicy gochujang salad dressing.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and scallion (spring onions) .
Serve.
Notes
You can make your own simple gochujang if you can’t find it at the supermarket by mixing miso paste and Korean red chilli pepper powder.
Japanese miso paste would be fine to use as a substitution for doenjang in the gochujang salad dressing. If you are using white miso paste, you may want to add an extra ½ teaspoon.
If you can not locate apple cucumber, 1 Lebanese cucumber sliced would be sufficient for the recipe.
Replace honey for maple syrup or rice malt syrup to create a vegan dish.
Switch soy sauce for tamari if you would like to a gluten free salad. Traditionally gochujang and doenjang is gluten free but always good to double-check.