I’ve never actually tried any pulled meats. They have been pretty fashionable in recent years, but I gave up meat long long before ever spotting anything “pulled” on a menu.
The idea of a new texture however does excite me so last year when I heard about the idea of jackfruit as a kind of vegetarian/vegan version of “pulled” dishes, I was curious enough to hunt some down and try it out. The first recipe I tried was using a homemade barbecue sauce and after that I was completely sold on the idea. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any decent photos at the time and the recipe has never made it on here but it’s high on my to make again (and again and again) list.
Getting hold of the jackfruit is surprisingly simple, depending on where you live, as you can buy tinned jackfruit from most Asian supermarkets. After that, all you need to do is drain the fruit, cut off any of the harder core and then slice it up. I usually pop out the big seeds too but to be honest I don’t know if that’s necessary or not as they seem quite soft – anyone know?
As I mentioned before, I don’t have anything to compare it to but that the texture is apparently true to the original has been confirmed by Pete when I’ve cooked it for him. Knowing it isn’t a heavily processed substitute is fantastic and this made me curious to try out some more ways of cooking pulled jackfruit.
This recipe was inspired by this slow cooker recipe for ‘Once Forgotten Jambalaya‘, the idea being that whilst it is easy to forget you have something cooking in the slow cooker (yep, I’m fully aware of this phenomenon; my first batch of carrot & ginger soup had to be chucked out after an accidental overnight stay in the slow cooker) this is so good you will never forget it again.
The first change I made, as you might have guessed, was to swap the chicken for jackfruit but I also decided to use brown rice and a couple of extra vegetables for a nutritious dinner.
- 200g brown rice, rinsed
- 1 liter vegetable stock
- 280g (1 tin) tinned jackfruit, drained
- ½ cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 celery sticks, chopped
- 2tbsp tomato purée
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2tsp parsley
- 2tsp basil
- 2tsp oregano
- 2tsp cayenne pepper
- 1tsp chili flakes
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the rice and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Drain the rice and transfer to the slow cooker. Add all of the other ingredients and stir a couple of times.
- Cook in the slow cooker on low for eight hours or high for four hours.
- Use two forks to shred the jackfruit and add salt or pepper to taste.
Have you tried pulled jackfruit yet? Let me know what you thought!