Is jackfruit a good replacement for pulled pork? It was a question I had asked many times and I finally decided to find out.
In a bid to be healthier over the last year I have looked towards more vegatarian and vegan options. This is not because of the moral implications of eating meat but to eat more vegetables and learn more about foods I don’t usually eat.
Over the last few years street food has become very popular and when vegan food is mentioned I always see jackfruit being used in the same way as pulled pork. When looking into jackfruit I learned that when cooked jackfruit can be pulled in the same way as pork, creating the same type of textures as pulled\pork.
I wasn’t sure where to pick up any jack fruit near me so I ordered some on online and it came in a can. At first glance it looked weird and smelt weird too. I wanted to give it a fair try and made pulled pork on the same day and used the same BBQ sauce.
I wasn’t sure how to cook the jackfruit so I gave it a quick boil for safety and then put in a hot pan until it was softer in texture. It very quickly became soft enough to shred with forks.
Once pulled and covered with sauce it did resemble pulled pork quite a bit and the texture wasn’t all that different. The taste is different obviously but not enough to hate what I was eating. I can imagine that if someone first tried jackfruit in a burrito or taco they may not know they weren’t eating meat. The texture makes you think of meat but the taste is just a bit off if you were expecting meat.
When the jack fruit has cooled down it tastes quite sweet and the fruit flavour intensifies a lot as it cools down. This is not something I could eat cold.
I think that jackfruit would help a lot of people who wish to transition into a vegan lifestyle and it would be something I would order if I was at a vegan eatery.
Jackfruit isn’t for everyone but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it may be. If you see it give it a go but it won’t be taking me away from pulled pork.