Posted on 04/13/2015 9:43:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Late last year, after 18 years of litigation, a senior government official in Kerala, south-west India was given a prison sentence after being convicted of theft. The object he stole was government property, and it was so large he had to have it cut up to get it home. A piece of art, perhaps? A precious metal? Actually, it was a 40-year-old jackfruit tree, and, once you’ve tasted its fruit, you begin to understand why he did it.
To say the jackfruit is big is an understatement. It is the largest tree-borne fruit on the planet – it isn’t unusual to come across beasts weighing up to 35kg in South America and South-east Asia. And it has been hailed as a “miracle crop” because of its size, and resistance to pests and drought. And its nutritional credentials are also impressive: researchers have suggested it could replace wheat, corn and other staple crops that may come under threat because of climate change.
Once you get through its tough, green, knobbly exterior, you’re hit with a faint whiff of onion, sticky sap and odd looking seed pods that taste like a cross between a pineapple and a pear. So far, so fruity. But what really sets the jackfruit apart is what it can do to savoury dishes, especially its ability to imitate pulled pork after several hours on the hob.
Entertainment magazine E! cited it as a “hot new vegan ingredient” after spotting it taking pork belly’s place in baos (steamed buns) at Susan Feniger’s Street Food in LA. In London, vegan street-food and supper-club contingent Club Mexicana uses it in burritos and tacos to delicious effect.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Jackfruit Boba Tea is yummy, but that is all I have ever had.
They are related but not the same.
Close enough for me.
This may taste good. Best of all it frees up more pork for my smoker.
Someone must’ve been real hungry to give that a taste!
Jack fruit is delicious. A small amount of chili makes it even better. We had a jack fruit tree in our yard in Chiang Mai.
Hmm, I’ll believe when I try it. Soy was supposed to be so great, but it’s pretty awful and makes you grow boobs.
It’s a lot better than the one that smells like vomit.
Durian? I often hear the smell compared to cat urine.
Oh yeah. Durian is beyond my ability to tolerate. My wife however . . . As long as she keeps it out of the house she can have as much as she likes. It’s the only Asian fruit I just can’t stand.
Oh yeah. Durian is beyond my ability to tolerate. My wife however . . . As long as she keeps it out of the house she can have as much as she likes. It’s the only Asian fruit I just can’t stand.
Can you grow this stuff in California?
I wonder if that’s what I smelled one time about 30 years ago at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco? We had been there many times and loved it. But once when we went there, a elderly Chinese gentleman at an adjacent table ordered some horrible dish that smelled like farts. Totally ruined our dinner, that’s for sure.
Might have been. Once you smell it, you’ll remember.
Durian.
Tastes wonderful, once you’re used to the smell.
Nothing else at all like it.
One day genetic engineering will take the smell away, and Durian will conquer the earth.
Doesn’t look like a tree I would want to take a nap beneath.
As long as she keeps it out of the house
Ditto, my (Chinese) wife.
It smells like rotten citrus that has been fermenting in an un-flushed urinal.
Fortunately, she can’t find it in SC.
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