WASHINGTON — It has a slightly starchy taste, a somewhat gooey flesh and smells a bit like onions, but the jackfruit is becoming more popular among vegetarians and vegans. And a lot of it has to do with its texture.
If you haven鈥檛 heard of jackfruit, chances are you鈥檙e not alone. The fruit is native to India, but grows all over Southeast Asia. It鈥檚 packed with potassium, calcium and iron, and has been called a miracle fruit by many, mostly for its ability to withstand pests and drought. The fruit, which can grow up to 100 pounds, has also been declared 聽since it can feed a number of people.
But vegans, vegetarians and those interested in the occasional aren鈥檛 drawn to the fruit for these reasons. They鈥檙e using the all-natural food as a substitute for meat in everything from pulled pork barbecue, to crab cakes, carnitas tacos and more.
草莓传媒 food contributor and food attorney Mary Beth Albright explains that when the jackfruit is cut open and broken down, the fruit is sectioned into pods, which can either be cut up or easily shredded (hence its popularity as a pulled pork substitute).
鈥淵ou can chop it up and make it look like chopped up chicken; you can leave it in chunks and make it look like chunks of meat,鈥� says Albright, who has written about jackfruit for聽.
When it鈥檚 cooked, jackfruit takes on the flavors of other ingredients, much like tofu.
鈥淚f you put on an Italian spice mix, it鈥檚 going to taste聽like Italian spices. If you put on an Indian spice mix, it鈥檚 going to taste like Indian spices. I think that is why it has become, in the past couple of years, a more popular thing for vegans,鈥� Albright says.
While some chefs, bloggers and home cooks rave about jackfruit鈥檚 meat-like qualities, Albright is hesitant to dub it the next meat. 鈥淭here are people who claim that it has the same consistency of meat, but there are people who will claim that of many different things.鈥�
However, she encourages the curious to give it a try. In the U.S., young green jackfruit is most commonly found in cans at Asian markets (so there鈥檚 no need to panic about lugging a 10, 20 or even 50 pound fruit home). Albright says on occasion, you might be able to spot jackfruit at Whole Foods.
If you鈥檙e going to make a savory recipe from jackfruit, Albright says pay close attention to what you鈥檙e buying: Avoid the jackfruit canned in syrup or brine; most recipes call for it canned in water.
If you can get your hands on a whole jackfruit, Albright says be prepared to invest some time into breaking it down.
鈥淚t is really hearty,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is hard for anything to get into a jackfruit, including humans.鈥�
The smell of the fruit is also a hindrance — Albright likens it to rotting onions — and the taste varies, based on the ripeness of the fruit when it鈥檚 eaten. She says the riper fruits taste like a cross between a banana and a pineapple, while others don鈥檛 taste like much of anything.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny because you think of smell and taste so closely related, but it can smell really terrible and taste OK,鈥� Albright says.
Prefer to let someone else do the cooking? Jackfruit has appeared on menus at ,聽as well as a few in聽, and Los Angeles. (Diners rave about the barbecue jackfruit bao buns on )
Because of its starchy quality, ground jackfruit has also been used as an alternative to different flours.
鈥淎nd the reason that鈥檚 important is because with climate change, it鈥檚 not as easy to grow traditional wheat in a lot of different areas,鈥� Albright says.
Want to experiment with jackfruit? Try one of the recipes below:
