Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Tasty Tuesdays - Jackfruit Tacos

Yay, it's time for Tasty Tuesday again!  Well, except that it's Wednesday.  I kind of lost track of the day.  But better late than never :)

I was visiting my parents over Christmas and when that happens, my brother and I always make Christmas dinner.  This year, we decided on roasted vegetable salad, jackfruit tacos, and pies (peach and berry).


Salad and pies

My focus was the tacos and my brother took on the pies.  Needless to say, it was all delicious.

I had never cooked with jackfruit before so it was a bit of an experiment.  I decided to use canned jackfruit since it seemed like less of a production than using a whole jack fruit.  Canned jackfruit should be available in Asian markets.  You would want to get unripe or young jackfruit in brine, not ripe jackfruit in syrup as that would be too sweet for a savory dish.

I didn't taste the fruit on it's own so I can't really tell you what it tasted like.  But it smelled a bit like canned artichoke, probably because of the brine.  The texture seemed similar to canned artichoke too.  The great thing about jackfruit is that it shreds so that it kind of looks like pulled pork or shredded chicken.  I think you would have to use it in something really flavorful like this type of Mexican recipe or a barbecue recipe.

I started with this recipe from Chad Sarno.

- 2 cans green jackfruit in brine, rinsed

Dry Rub
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder (it ended up being a bit spicy so alter as needed for your tastes)
- 1/2 tsp onion granules
- 1/4 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (I reduced it from 3 in the recipe)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- sea salt to taste

Braising Liquid
- 2.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1.5 tsp fresh oregano
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- Juice of one lime
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 chiptle in adobo sauce, minced
- Sea salt to taste

First, I rinsed the jack fruit and put it in a mixing bowl with all the spices for the dry rub.  I shredded the jack fruit while mixing in the spices.  Some of the chunks of the fruit were a little hard so I didn't worry about shredding it too finely, I just did as much as I could figuring I could shred more later while it was cooking in the liquid.  I let the fruit marinate in the spices for about 2 hours.

Shredded with spices, you can see some of the large chunks as they came out of the can

I had read conflicting directions on the seeds.  Some recipes said leave them out and some said leave them in.  I decided to leave them in, mostly because I'm too lazy to fish them all out.  They weren't noticeable in the final product at all.

After the marinating is done, heat the oil in a pot and then add the onions.  I also added half a green bell pepper since I had one at hand.  Saute for a couple minutes and then add the jack fruit.  Stir for a couple more minutes and then add in the rest of the items for the braising liquid.  Bring to a simmer.  This is when I shredded any of the remaining big chunks of fruit.  Once the liquid started simmering, I reduced the heat to medium low, covered, and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Most of the liquid will have evaporated and it's ready to eat.

Cooking with the braising liquid

We served it with corn tortillas (I would use flour next time), salsa, cabbage slaw (cabbage, vinegar, salt and honey that marinated together for about an hour), and homemade guacamole. Yum!



This was an interesting experiment and tasted great!  It took some time with all the marinating but it didn't take that much active cooking time so wasn't too hard.  It was definitely an unusual vegetarian option that I think everyone enjoyed.

I'm linking up with Lean Lena for Tasty Tuesday and will be linking up with Deborah and Tina for Meatless Mondays.
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ teaspoon onion granules
¼ teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon black pepper
Sea salt to taste
- See more at: http://chadsarno.com/jackfruit-carnitas/#sthash.vyoa32Uk.dpuf
2 can green jackfruit, rinsed well (you can purchase green jackfruit in most Asian, or Indian markets, make sure it is only in water, or brine) – or can also use cubed tofu (1 ½ block), cubed tempeh (1 ½ packs) , chopped hearts of palm, or artichoke hearts
Dry Rub:
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ teaspoon onion granules
¼ teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon black pepper
Sea salt to taste
- See more at: http://chadsarno.com/jackfruit-carnitas/#sthash.vyoa32Uk.dpuf
2 can green jackfruit, rinsed well (you can purchase green jackfruit in most Asian, or Indian markets, make sure it is only in water, or brine) – or can also use cubed tofu (1 ½ block), cubed tempeh (1 ½ packs) , chopped hearts of palm, or artichoke hearts
Dry Rub:
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ teaspoon onion granules
¼ teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon black pepper
Sea salt to taste
- See more at: http://chadsarno.com/jackfruit-carnitas/#sthash.vyoa32Uk.dpuf

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