BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich
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*