How to cook jackfruit

The jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, reaching 80 pounds in weight, up to 36 inches in length, and 20 inches in diameter. This oval fruit has a pale-green to dark-yellow rind when ripe and is covered with short, sharp, hexagonal, fleshy spines. The interior consists of large, soft, yellow bulbs that taste like banana. The flesh encloses hundreds of smooth, oval, light-brown seeds.

Family – Moraceae
Scientific name – Artocarpus heterophyllus

Common name – jackfruit, jakfruit

A good source of vitamin C
Provides a moderate amount of vitamin A (beta-carotene)

Varieties

A relative of breadfruit, jackfruit comes in two main varieties. One variety has a fibrous, soft, sweet flesh with a texture similar to that of raw oysters. The other, more commercially important, variety is crisp and almost crunchy with a flavor that is not quite as sweet. This latter variety is more palatable to western tastes.

Origin and botanical facts

Believed to be indigenous to the rain forests of India, the jackfruit has spread to other parts of India, southeast Asia, the East Indies, the Philippines, central and eastern Africa, Brazil, and Suriname. Although adapted to humid tropical and near-tropical climates where it can reach the size of a large eastern oak, the mature jackfruit can withstand bouts of frost, unlike its cousin, the breadfruit.

Jackfruits mature 3 to 8 months after flowering, as indicated by a change in fruit color from light green to yellow-brown. After ripening, the fruits turn brown and spoil very quickly.

How to cook jackfruit

Throughout Asia, unripe jackfruit is often boiled, fried, or roasted. The ripe fruit, which emits a pleasant smell and has a sweet taste, is usually eaten fresh as a dessert, or fermented and distilled to produce a liquor. Jackfruit also is preserved by drying or canning. Jackfruit seeds are roasted or boiled and eaten like chestnuts or, in India, used in curries.