Jackfruit Stew ~ Vegan Pot Roast Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long should you cook jackfruit for? ›

Leave to simmer gently, covered, for 30 mins stirring every 5-10 mins to help break down the jackfruit, then take the lid off and cook a further 10 minutes. Once cooked, use a fork to make sure all of the jackfruit is well shredded.

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.

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.

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 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.

Some think it's sweet, while others do indeed liken it to the taste of pulled pork. This is especially true when cooked, and you'll find it used regularly in the place of pulled pork or chicken in the best vegan cookbooks.

Does jackfruit soften when cooked? ›

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.