[KYHeirloomer]

Our local Asian grocery has several brands of something called Jackfruit. The cans are found next to other fruits, such as lychee, plums, and even pineapple.

Does anyone know what Jackfruit is? And what it is used for?

Thnx!

[CarlaH]

Hi KYHeirloomer, I googled Jackfruit and this is one of the entries I found:
Harvest: Jackfruits mature 3 to 8 months from flowering. When mature, there is usually a change of fruit color from light green to yellow-brown. Spines, closely spaced, yield to moderate pressure, and there is a dull, hollow sound when the fruit is tapped. After ripening, they turn brown and deteriorate rather quickly. Cold storage trials indicate that ripe fruits can be kept for 3 to 6 weeks at 52° to 55° F and relative humidity of 85% to 95%. Immature fruit is boiled, fried, or roasted. Chunks are cooked in lightly salted water until tender and then served. The only handicap is copious gummy latex which accumulates on utensils and hands unless they are first rubbed with cooking oil. The seeds can also be boiled or roasted and eaten similar to chestnuts. In Southeast Asia dried slices of unripe jackfruit are sold in the markets. The ripe bulbs, fermented and then distilled, produce a potent liquor.

[dory]

I think you should buy a can and taste it and then let us know. On the other hand, the description of the latex is a bit unappetizing, so maybe rather than recommending you buy a can I should see if my local Asian food store has it. I am now torn between curiosity, and a sense of muted horror at the thought of eating a latex so sticky and persistent it is difficult to remove from cookware.

Dory

[Adnil]

Jackfruit, aka nanka, is a fruit grown in the Philippines. I have only had it preserved in a sweet syrup. In this form it is yellow, similar to mango and the texture is, maybe, a cross between papaya and mango.

While there may be dozens of ways Filipinos eat this, I am most familiar with it used in a scrumptious Filipino dessert called halo-halo (short a). Here is a description of halo-halo
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Halo-halo

Halo-halo can contain a myriad of ingredients, but I limit mine to about 4 or 5 of my favorites and I skip the ice cream. If you ever have a chance to try it, don't pass it up. It is sweet and very refreshing and the best part is the end when the flavors have blended together and you slurp it all up with your straw. I wish I had some now.

[David]

Well hello-hello to halo-halo! it sounds like great fun!
_________________
Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Carla]

I make a curry with green jackfruit, which can be used as a vegetable. The ripe jackfruit is sweet and I sometimes eat it on it's own as a fruit if I find it fresh at the market.

The first time I tried green jackfruit curry, I didn't know what it was, I thought it was artichoke hearts, it had the same texture.

I use a Sri Lankin recipe, which is called Polos. It's yummy.
If you want the recipe let me know and I will send it to you.

[KYHeirloomer]

Appreciate the offer, Carla. But around here the only way I see it is canned in a simple syrup. So I wouldn't be able to try the Polos.

[nima]

Jackfruit is very common in India, especially in the South. Fully grown, it is an amazingly large fruit (sometimes 30 kgs in weight). Unripe jackfruit is often chopped and stirfried in curries. There are many regional varieties of jackfruit curry in India. Jackfruit is very nutritious and is high in vitamin C. In Telugu, it's called 'panas,' and is often served at wedding celebrations.

The ripe fruit is very sweet, and the pods are simply eaten as they are. Both the unripe and ripe varieties can be found in cans. KYH, if the jackfruit you found is in simple syrup, then this is the ripe fruit, and you can serve it like you would canned lychees.

Recently there was a blogging event for jackfruit recipes (incl. both the unripened and ripened varieties). Here are the results:

http://jugalbandi.info/2007/05/jihva-for-ingredients-jackfruit/

http://jugalbandi.info/2007/06/jihva-for-jackfruit-roundup/