Have you tried fresh, ripe jackfruit before? In case you haven’t seen a jackfruit, they’re massive and spiky. And when this one first arrived it was still super green and didn’t really smell very fruity. So, after about a week of waiting, letting it turn brownish yellow and scenting (or stinking up) the whole house I was ready to dive into it. I’ve never cut apart a jackfruit before, but I did know that I was going to need a big knife, maybe not my favourite one, and some oil, coconut, canola or vegetable all work. Jackfruit is filled with latex, and it gets everywhere. It was already oozing from the cut stem onto the table all week, so I knew as soon as I cut into it, it was gonna be a mess. Hence the oil, it makes cleanup much easier.
The actual cutting up of a jackfruit isn’t difficult, just slightly tedious, and in my opinion worth the effort. I would recommend slicing it in half lengthwise and then just cut into manageable chunks. You will be able to see white goo oozing from it, that’s the latex. When it is in smaller chunks you can start pulling out the orange fruit pods surrounding the seeds. Once you got all your little pods, you want to remove the seed inside it. After I picked through this jackfruit I had a massive bowl of fruit.
Jackfruit was tasty enough by itself, but I felt like I should make something with it. Wanting to keep things simple, I thought would be useful to create something that balances the sweetness of the jackfruit while still allowing the aroma to shine through. That’s where this 3-ingredient vegan jackfruit smoothie come in. It is sweet, creamy, and refreshing, and couldn’t be simpler to make and really brings the best flavour out of fresh, ripe jackfruit. This smoothie is all about simplicity and pure flavour. You just need to blend fresh, ripe jackfruit, lemon juice, and your choice of plant milk. The lemon juice cuts the sweetness of the jackfruit just slightly and makes the drink a little tangy. The overall flavour of the drink is still largely that of the jackfruit.
The texture is also satisfying – springy and meaty. I can’t think of a fruit that has a similar texture, so I’ll just say it has an interesting and unusual mouthfeel. With it’s green, spiny, exterior, jackfruit isn’t the most appetising fruit to look at. But, ripe jackfruit pods are so tasty – to me! In fact, I don’t think there’s anything else out there quite like them. To me, ripe and sweet jackfruit (pods) tastes like a cross between a papaya, a mango, a banana, a pineapple and an apple. Did you know that jackfruit contains nearly every vitamin and mineral needed as well as considerable fibre and protein. One cup of jackfruit contains 3g of fibre and 3g of protein. The fruit is quite strong in antioxidants, and hold a low glycemic index so it is useful at blood sugar management.
IF YOU EVER GIVE THIS RECIPE A TRY, DO LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND/OR TAG @FRUITYEMZ AND HASHTAG #FRUITYEMZ ON YOUR INSTAGRAM POST! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ALL YOUR YUMMY CREATIONS 🙂
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