Jackfruit Stew ~ Vegan Pot Roast Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long should you cook jackfruit for? ›

Place jackfruit in a large stockpan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 45 minutes. Drain, then rinse with cool water. When cool enough to handle, shred the jackfruit by pulling apart the pieces and separating as many strands as possible.

How do you cook with it? You can easily separate the flesh of unripe jackfruit with your fingers or shred it with two forks. Then add your seasoning and sauces before sautéing or simmering until it softens. Jackfruit is a great addition to curries as it takes on the flavour of the sauce as it bubbles away.

The key is to slow simmer and bake the jackfruit in a single layer to give it a tender and chewy texture, closely resembling pork carnitas.

This is particularly more important if you plan to eat your jackfruit raw, as the texture of the core isn't as noticeable once the fruits have been cooked. Again, the canned jackfruit is perfectly safe to eat straight out of the can, but it tends to taste best warm and with seasoning.

Ideally, we should not drink water after eating jackfruit. It may cause issues like diarrhoea. Drinking water after eating jackfruit will affect the pH of the stomach and slow digestion since water dilutes digestive acids and enzyme activity.

What Does Jackfruit Taste Like? Ripe yellow jackfruit has a subtly sweet flavor, often described as a combination of banana, apple, and mango. Young green jackfruit, on the other hand, has a neutral flavor and texture similar to shredded meat, making it a popular meat substitute in savory dishes.

Splitting open a whole jackfruit, you will find yellow, fibrous flesh, pods, and seeds. Young and unripe jackfruit is what is used as a meat replacement but once ripe, the fleshy pods can be enjoyed as a tasty tropical treat.

Milk or other dairy products should not be taken with jackfruit. In fact, jackfruit contains oxalate which reacts with calcium present in dairy products. In addition to upset stomach, it can cause white spots on the skin, itching, eczema.

Pulsing the jackfruit is efficient and it creates more of a shredded chicken look. Be careful not to pulse to much, because we don't want mushy jackfruit. Only Pulse it 2-3 times until it looks like the texture we want.

Garlic and onion powder — Combined with the barbecue sauce, these make the jackfruit taste super flavorful and extra savory. Feel free to substitute in a few cloves of fresh garlic for the powder. Paprika — Adds a nice peppery flavor without too much heat.

How to eat jackfruit out of a can? ›

Take canned unripe jackfruit in water or brine. Drain the liquid. If you've opted for the version in brine, give the chunks a good rinse under the tap as it can have an unpleasant taste. Then, pull the chunks apart with your fingers, to give the jackfruit a shredded texture like pulled pork, chicken or beef.

If you don't have a slow cooker, cook jackfruit in a skillet (preferably cast iron) until easily shredded, about 2 hours.

If you use the more convenient canned jackfruit, take care to rinse as much of the brine away as possible. I like to soak it in cold water for a few hours to extract as much as I can. You also probably won't need to add salt to your recipe, so taste before adding any soy sauce or salty condiments.

Ripe jackfruit, sold both fresh and tinned in syrup, is delicious as a snack or as part of a dessert. However, ripe jackfruit is too soft to be used as a meat substitute – it goes mushy when cooked.

Jackfruit is best prepared either boiled or roasted. It can also be pre-cooked: boil it for around half an hour to soften up the flesh for sautéing. Jackfruit seeds are delicious and considered a delicacy in some South-East Asian cultures.

Once you have prepared the fresh jackfruit, you can use it in a variety of recipes. However, before cooking with it in a recipe, you may like to boil the fresh unripe jackfruit for around 45 minutes to ensure it becomes tender in the final dish.