I tried jackfruit for the first time recently. I've seen it in stores over the years. Usually one of the farmers markets where Oriental people tend to run the place. Although a lot of them were run by Mexicans and Central Americans too.
And it's funny there's one store called Nam Dae Mon. And it's got everybody in there. Africans, Mexicans, Dominicans, people from all of the Asian countries. It's amazing. I really like going there but I don't go there a lot.
I saw some jackfruit that was already cut up and wrapped in plastic and I bought a quarter of a jackfruit. A lot less messy from what I read because apparently the goo inside the jackfruit is very sticky and hard to remove. They even suggest that people doing that either coat their hands in coconut oil and coat whatever they're putting it in and cutting it on in coconut oil or even wear gloves. But buying it already cut up into a quarter of it all that stuff was gone.
Four bucks. I got enough jackfruit to make probably one meal for two people. I roasted the seeds and several of them exploded in the air fryer when I was trying to roast them. But they had a decent flavor when I tasted them.
The jackfruit itself, the petals of the flower, actually had a mildly sweet taste. From what I read, the lady described it as a cross between pineapple, papaya, cucumber, and a couple other sweet, tangy fruits.
And she was right on. It tasted really good. I tasted it raw. I cooked it in olive oil with some Everglades seasoning and some of my "David's mix" seasoning. And then after cooking it, tossing it in the oil and making sure it softened up a little bit because I wasn't real clear if it was ripe or not.
I tasted it and it actually had that mildly sweet taste. I put some barbecue sauce in a small dish and dipped it. That was amazing! All of a sudden it was the sweet tangy barbecue sauce and the sweet tangy of the fruit. I could see where vegetarians would enjoy having that as a barbecue sandwich.
I only ate a little bit because I want to see what it does to my stomach but this may be a new adventure to take my wife on or maybe even one of my adult children when they come to visit.
Fun!
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