How to eat a Jackfruit ... the vegan meat that comes from fruit

What is Jackfruit?

Have you ever seen these gigantic greenish-brown nubby monster fruits at the grocery store called Jackfruit? They can grow on average 10 - 20 lbs. and look intimidating as all get out! The largest recorded Jackfruit weighed 100 lbs.!

These Jackfruit are the largest tree fruit known and grow only in tropical climates. You can buy one if you can actually find one, on average costing $1.50/lb. This can be pretty expensive if your selection is a 15 pounder! BUT... think about this... if you spend $20+ on this monster, you're going to yield a lot of fruit and vegan meat that can be frozen and used as needed and its fresh, processed for less money by you and you know there's no preservatives added in, not to mention the sheer exciting experience of fabricating this tropic monster.

Jackfruit has gained a huge following among the vegan and vegetarian diets and is used not only for its rich nutrients in vitamin C, potassium, and fiber, but it's also used as meatless vegan meat! WHAT? Yeah... fruit-meat LOL! Believe it or not, people call this the vegan pulled pork or Jackfruit meat.

How do I know if a Jackfruit is ready to eat?

What I'm about to share with you is just one of the ways this can be done. Bright and light green unripe Jackfruits can also be harvested, fabricated, and cooked to make vegan meat. However, I will be sharing with you how to cut and eat a ripened and ready-to-eat jackfruit, make sure that it is a brownish-green and has a slight tender depression when pushing on the rind. I bought mine at Fresh Thyme. You may be able to find this in your local produce section of the grocery store or you can try doing a Google search for: Where to find Jackfruit near me.

FYI, they can give off a smell depending on the ripeness, I suggest cutting into this bad boy same-day so you're not stuck in the kitchen with this odor for days on end. My Jackfruit was an end piece from the market and did not smell. I'm assuming it was because it was already cut and had aerated.

How do I cut Jackfruit?

Take a good look at the image with the anatomy of the Jackfruit parts. This will help you to understand what you're fabricating and to keep and throw away.

1. Wash the fruit and dry, place on a cutting board covered with newspaper or paper bags that can be thrown away. This fruit has a natural latex that can seep from the rind and core, becoming very sticky. Cover all counter space needed for easy cleanup.

2. Have a bag for trash and a container or freezer bags ready for storage as needed.

3. Use coconut oil (or any light flavored cooking oil) and carefully grease your knife blade(make sure to sharpen) and your hands unless you prefer to wear disposable gloves instead.

4. Cut the lengthwise and pull apart. Then cut each long half into quarters(you will have 8 pieces). Blot any latex that comes out with a paper towel as needed.

5. One section at a time, push the rind upwards as to turn it inside out, this will help expose the aril fruit pods and pull apart the tendril(finger-like fibers). Cut off any core areas as needed if it's obstructing your section from opening up.

6. Place all arils aside and cut off the tendril fibers and place in a separate container for vegan pulled pork. Repeat on all 7 remaining sections and discard the leftover rinds and cores.

7. Pull apart each aril pod and remove the seed. Set aside seeds if you would like to roast or boil them. These guys are edible!

8. Smell and taste the aril pods! They are tropical banana-ee - pineapple-ee and tender yet a bit crunchy nugget of goodness! Once you pop you cannot stop, I'm addicted! They seriously are unique and delicious! The smooth tender mouthfeel alone, is satisfying.

How to eat Jackfruit

Ok, this is totally dependant on you and how diverse of an experience you want ...

• ARILS | Tastes and smells like a tropical fruit mixture and bubble gum. Tender and crunchy.

After removing the internal seeds, you can eat them as is or dice them for a fruit salad, smoothie, or whatever other creative ideas you have. I couldn't save any because with the end piece of Jackfruit I bought, all of the arils were eaten same-day ... yes, they are that tasty!

• TENDRILS | Tastes like mild fruitiness, cooks like soft strands of pulled pork.

These can be fried, sauteed, or cooked in a pressure cooker with any seasonings of your choice. I personally used a few teaspoons of carnita seasoning in my instant pot with 1 cup of water set on normal pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release. Season to your liking and put on nachos, in a wrap with veggies or on a buttered and grilled bun with other fun ingredients that you'd pile onto a pulled pork sandwich. I suggest breaking it into batches and freeze so you can test out different flavors! Why not?

• SEEDS | Tastes like chestnuts or other mild nut. Boils like a soft potato or if roasted long, like a hard chestnut.

A few options are: 1) Boil for 30 - 40 minutes with 1 inch of water over the tops, cool and remove outer shell. They are slippery little suckers so try using a towel or paper towel to carefully cut with a paring knife and remove out covering. Or you can try this option, 2) Roast at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Peel off the thin and hard outer shell. Season as desired. If boiling you could possibly make a hummus out of this! Try something fun! If it isn't your style, at least you tried something new!

LEAVE COMMENTS ON HOW YOU USED YOUR JACKFRUIT!