BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich
Comments(36) 
Over the long Memorial Day weekend, I decided to give BBQ pulled pork style jackfruit a whirl. I’ve been reading about it lately and it sounds so weird yet undeniably interesting at the same time.
BBQ is something I haven’t had in a long, long time. Grilling is quick, high heat over the grill. BBQ is low and slow – veggies don’t usually need to be cooked this way. So I was looking forward to enjoying a little BBQ.
The smell was incredible and the color is a nice tantalizing brown. But when I had a taste bite, I did not care for it at all. It tasted like how it looked when it first came out of the can, kinda of a vinegar taste. Or maybe it was the BBQ sauce I was using. Or maybe it was because I used my rice cooker on the slow cook setting. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and set it aside.
At the end of the day when I was debating what to do with it, I gave it one more try and nibbled a tiny bit. What!!? It tasted great! I guess the BBQ sauce and/or jackfruit just needed more time for the flavor to develop. So happy now.
Jackfruit is a giant, prickly oval fruit grown in India, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. It’s the largest tree borne fruit in the world. Ripe jackfruit is sweet and eaten as a dessert. The canned young green jackfruit in brine is unripe. It’s prepared as a vegetable and is also known as “vegetable meat”. Both versions can be found at the Asian grocery store.
BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich
Serves 2
1 20 ounce can young green jackfruit in brine
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup + extra BBQ sauce, bottled or homemade
Hamburger buns
Drain and wash the jackfruit in several changes of water. After washing, squeeze out as much water as you can.
In a pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic. Add the jackfruit and salt to taste, and cook for a 3-4 minutes over medium heat.
Transfer the jackfruit to a slow cooker, add the BBQ sauce and mix well. Set the cooker for 1 hour, occasionally stirring and adding more sauce or water as needed. The jackfruit should be fork tender and come apart easily.
Take the jackfruit out of the cooker and shred with a fork. Let the jackfruit sit for several hours or overnight to further develop the flavor or if it taste good to you right out of the pot, dig in. Serve on toasted buns with your choice of more BBQ sauce, mayo, coleslaw or pickles.
wow! who would have ever thought bbq jackfruit! great idea…where did you first hear of it?
I have never heard of jackfruit, let alone BBQ’d jackfruit. But I have to admit that “young green jackfuit in brine” really doesn’t sound very appealing. In brine? Sounds so pirate-y. Ha ha. Too bad there is no Asian market in my town for all my jackfruit needs because your pic looks amazing.
How interesting. I’ve never heard of jackfruit. Nor did I ever think of BBQ fruit! It looks amazing though, seriously, I want to eat the picture.
Thanks everybody for your comments! :-)
I’ve never heard of jackfruit before either. I have no idea who thought of the original idea to BBQ jackfruit. Sure is tasty though.
I had read about Pure Luck Restaurant in Los Angeles. They serve a BBQ jackfruit sandwich to rave reviews. It’s also on some of the vegan boards.
Gorgeous! Looks like a perfect BBQ meal. I’ve yet to try jackfruit also, and make my BBQ sandwiches with Match faux pork.
Thanks Lisa! I haven’t heard of Match faux pork before. Sounds interesting, I’ll have to look into it sometime.
This looks amazing!
The trick I learned with this stuff is to let it marinate for 8 hours. That way the flavor is prime!
Make it hottttttt!
: )
/F/T/
Thanks FOODTRANCE! At least the flavors eventually came together in the end. :-) Next time, I will probably try to either marinate or cook it longer.
Oh, this is something we don’t have here. Getting fresh jackfruit is getting tougher. I had tasted a young jackfruit curry dish, should be a Sri Lanka dish, it is awesome but i can’t find it anymore.
When young, there was a jackfruit tree at my granny place, we would BBQ the seed of the jackfruit after eating the jackfruit. It is lovely.
:)
Crystal – Interesting you can’t find it anymore over there. That’s a bummer.
Wow, BBQ jackfruit seeds. Maybe that’s where the idea for BBQ came from? :-)
if anybody is interested about its nutritional value then check it out:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2087/2
This sounds AMAZING! I never had pulled pork, and truth is, even the ripe jackfruit is still meaty and ind of dry, so cooked is the answer I guess. I am SO going to try this. Have you ever tried it with fresh Jackfruit?
I’ve never had fresh jackfruit. I haven’t seen it anywhere around here.
I think ripe jackfruit is sweet, you’ll want the unripe green jackfruit to make the pulled jackfruit.
this looks great!
Ripe jackfruit is very sweet. It’s hard to find in the US, though I know it grows in south Florida, where the weather is warm enough.
Like Crystal, I have had jackfruit seeds before. They make it in curry in south India. yum.
Thanks for the recipe
liz – Thanks! I’ve never had jackfruit seeds before either, but now I’m curious to try it. :-)
Oh geez… I thought I picked up some fresh jackfruit off the shelf on Monday and would have tried this dish, except that I don’t remember taking it home with me. When I asked my husband a moment ago, he told me he put it back without me noticing. *roll eyes*
A restaurant in my city makes this BBQ jackfruit sandwich (though I haven’t been there yet), jicama tacos and garbanzo bean sandwiches too! I’m salivating just now haha
Will I be able to make this without a slow cooker, in a regular pot??
Yes, you can make it in a regular pot. See here http://vegangelicalsouth.blogspot.com/2008/02/ive-got-your-pulled-pork-right-here.html
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I just made this and OMG was it good. I fried the jack fruit a little longer to give it a “meat” type look to fool my kids into thinking it was chicken. (Has the texture of chicken).
I added a whole chopped onion and 1/4 cup brown sugar too.
YUMMY. We did not notice a vinigar type taste to ours so it may be the type of jackfruit? Ours crockpotted about 6 hours.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe, glad it came out great for you! I think the long cooking time helps a lot – 6 hours vs 1 hour. Or short cooking time but let it sit around for a few hours. The jackfruit just needs time. :-)
I want this so bad. I went all the way across town to the Asian grocery today. There was Jackfruit in syrup on the shelf but I didn’t see young green jackfruit but alot of the labels are Chinese only so I went to the counter to ask.
They had no idea what the hell I was talking about. “Whole fresh jackfruit?” “No. Young Green Jackfruit in a can. No syrup.” “Can you explain it more?” “Young Green Jackfruit! That’s what it says on the can. No syrup.” he stared at me completely confused while I repeated this a few more times. “Uhh… let me ask the boss.” Comes back a minute later. “No.”
That’s a bummer, no wonder you’re Sad Panda. :-) Hope you can find it somewhere else or maybe online?
Jackfruit is awesome, my favorite tree and one of my favorite fruits. I am looking for interesting ideas or recipies for fresh ripe jackfruit. I have one and a half in my fridge now from my friends house down the road. Any ideas?
OK…I tried this based on your recipe,..As soon as I finished with the hour slow cook, I gave it a taste. Not so sure. I could still detect that vinegary brine. Kinda disappointed,…I justvthrew it in the fridge. Maybe tomorrow I’ll re-heat and try it again.
Took out of the fridge,…heated it up and threw it on a bun and…….lo and behold,…it was fantastic!
Next time I will get the cans packed in water and NOT brine. This will probably make it more palatable sooner,….but again,..it tasted great!
Todd – That was exactly my expereince too the first time I tried cooking with jackfruit. So glad it came out for you! :-)
If I had any complaint (really not a complaint) it came from my wife,…she said it seemed just a bit too mushy for her. (no taste complaint from her)Yours looked more firm. Did I cook too long in the pan,…or do you think too long in the slow cooker?
I wonder if I threw it in the oven to bake afterward,…if that would firm it up and dry it out some to be more stringy and palatable for her?
Todd – The jackfruit does come out a bit on the soft side. I think it might just be the nature of the jackfruit.
So far I liked it best rolled up in a taquito which I then bake. The crunchy shell counteracts the softness of the jackfruit. But if you ever try baking it afterwards, I would love to hear the results.
I tried this tonight!
As I was taking the jackfruit out of the can, I noticed the seed like things that were in it (the oval but still soft pod like things) that came out when I squeezed the water out of it. I tried picking it out but a few of them were in the crock pot, and their texture really threw me off
I just made half a sandwich of it and I’m still not so sure, I’ll have my boyfriend try when he gets home.
Maybe we need to let it marinate overnight as well
Have you tried any other variations yet?
Oh! Also, I feel like jackfruit is structured similarly to a pineapple, and I tried to pull it away from the center rind part as much as possible.
Did you have this problem?
Rachel – The seeds threw me off too at first but then I figured that all of it was edible. I didn’t try pulling it away from the center rind. I just shredded it after it was done cooking.
Definitely let it sit overnight for the best flavor, it makes a huge difference. I tried it with taco seasonings and chinese 5-spice, they’re both good. I still like the taquitos best.
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I can’t believe how easy and delicious this was. Letting it sit overnight is truly the key to a good dish. Making your own sauce will really do this dish justice. A good fresh baked roll wouldn’t hurt either.