The Secret of Vegetarian Pulled Pork
Anyone who doesn’t eat meat knows how limited options can be during barbecue season. But this year, you are not going to settle for a dry Boca burger or leftover vegetables from kebabs. No, this year you are going to eat veggie pork stew – and you will love it. All you need is one key ingredient: jackfruit.
Jackfruit is a large (some can reach 100 pounds!) Oval fruit that grows on a tree. It has a slightly prickly yellow-green skin and a distinct aroma reminiscent of the less smelly durian. Although believed to be native to India, it grows in many tropical climates around the world, including Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. In ripe jackfruit, we eat flower petals that are folded around the seeds (which, surprisingly, you can also eat). Unripe jackfruit doesn’t have that much difference between the floral (fruit) part and the rest of the inside of the fruit, so it has a much starchier and more viscous texture. Jackfruit is also rich in protein and potassium, making it a good substitute for meat.
You want a green jackfruit, not a ripe one, for the texture and flavor to suit a savory dish. Pop into your local Asian grocery store or search for canned jackfruit online or at your grocery store (I got mine from Trader Joe’s). You can use fresh green jackfruit, but it will be a little harder to find consistently in big cities – the freshest jackfruit I saw was ripe and sweet.
In addition to jackfruit (3 glasses), you will need:
- ½ cup BBQ sauce
- 1 onion (I chopped mine)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon bell pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more if you like spices, skip if not)
- Salt and pepper for flavor
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (use one without anchovies)
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
I used this recipe to list the ingredients, but tweaked the cooking process slightly to get a drier, less messy finish.
After collecting all the ingredients, preheat a Dutch oven or a large saucepan on the stove and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Then add jackfruit, spices, Worcestershire, liquid smoke and vegetable broth. Let the whole shebang simmer, then cover and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes.
You will know the jackfruit is oven-ready (preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit) because you can easily separate the fibers from the fruit with a fork or potato grinder, as in the photo above. Continue mashing until you get something that looks like a pork stew.
Place the jackfruit on a baking sheet and pour the barbecue sauce over the jackfruit, then stir. Bake for about an hour. My oven gets very hot, so I started checking the jackfruit after 40 minutes. The sauce will concentrate during this process, so choose one that is not too hot if you are sensitive to hot food (I didn’t and my taste buds paid for it later).
You end up with something that looks and tastes a lot like a traditional pork stew. I suggest adding more barbecue sauce, coleslaw, avocado, mustard, or ripe tomatoes.