This is why everyone’s embracing jackfruit

SOURCE:-SBS

From top-rated chefs to vegans around the globe, jackfruit is winning fans. And jackfruit “pulled pork” is just a fraction of why.

Imagine eating delicious, saucy, falling-apart pulled pork – and then discovering that it was not pork at all, but the impressively versatile jackfruit.

Yes, the same tropical fruit that becomes meltingly sweet as it fully ripens. If you thought cauliflower was versatile then you might want to join the growing band of chefs and home cooks who have shown how many ways it can be used, from a vegan “pulled pork” (think tacos and burgers with slaw) to condiments and desserts. 

You might have seen jackfruit before – in fact, we’d wager you definitely have. Whether wandering through Chinatown, through stores supplying goods from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, or even the odd Harris Farm, you might well have caught sight of a green-yellowish, giant misshapen lump covered with dangerous-looking spikes. Ringing any bells? Well, that’s jackfruit.

Jackfruit are the world’s largest fruit. Image by llee_wu via Flickr.

Admittedly, it’s a bit of a job to open it up. Chef O Tama Carey (ex-Berta and now running Sydney restaurant, Lankan Filling Station) explains, “It’s time consuming to prepare – it’s got that big massive skin that you have to hack through, and then you have to peel all the pulp away, and then you get to the flesh and you have to take the seed out as well.”

The inside is full yellow wedges of fruit and seed. Image by Tarah via Flickr.

Carey is half-Sri Lankan, and Sri Lanka – along with India – is probably the country most well-known for its jackfruit recipes. “In Sri Lanka they use it at three difference ages,” explains Carey, “The youngest version is still quite unripe, and they slice it really finely and make a mallum.” (A mallum is like a Sri Lankan form of stir-fry or sambal.)

When it reaches its next stage, jackfruit gets its most celebrated moment – as a truly passable alternative to pork. “When it’s a bit older, more like a teenager as opposed to a baby,” says Carey, “they slice it up and make it into a curry, and that’s called polos.” With its firm texture, the meat flakes apart like a slow-cooked piece of pork shoulder. Its neutral, not yet sweet, flavour works brilliantly with strong flavoured sauces, as, like cauliflower, it soaks them all up.

GET JACKED

Young jackfruit curry

Jackfruit is the largest tree fruit in the world. Depending on maturity of the fruit, it can be cooked in different ways, including this fragrant curry.