Roasted Cauliflower With Nước Chấm Sauce

Jun 23, 2025 - 21:31
Jun 23, 2025 - 21:33
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Roasted Cauliflower With Nước Chấm Sauce
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim.

Hearty slabs of cauliflower are deeply caramelized in the oven on high heat then dressed with a riff on the traditional Vietnamese nước chấm sauce — an umami-rich mix of fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and chiles. Fish sauce and garlic add pungency, vinegar brings a touch of sourness (in place of more traditional citrus), sugar rounds out these strong flavors with some sweetness, and chiles bring the heat. Mild, subtly sweet cauliflower benefits a great deal from getting burnished in the oven, and again from the sauce, while crushed roasted nuts add texture and bring out the vegetable’s nuttiness. Serve this dish as a starter or side, or supplement with rice to make it a main.

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