Pulled jackfruit tacos
Pulled jackfruit tacos
After the success of my bao bun recipe, jackfruit has become a bit of an obssession…The trouble is, no one sells it here ๐ . There is one shop, which orders them for me, but as it takes a few weeks between me placing an order and the order actually arriving, I need to be organised about my recipe testing and creation when it comes to this elusive ingredient.
This batch took a little long to arrive but it is finally here, which made my day as I’ve been dying to make pulled jackfruit tacos for a while. The weather has become almost summery and what better way to celebrate summer (okay, spring still) than with a tray of juicy, filled to the brim, tacos, chilled craft beer and a postprandial nap in my hammock ๐ (my lazy cat, Tina, agrees!). Plus, it is Cinco de Mayo today, isn’t it? So I feel like this Mexican-inspired feast has been perfectly timed.
These smoky and spicy tacos have got a big thumbs up from Duncan who could not wait for me to finish photographing them so that he can sink his teeth into at least one. I am rather pleased with how they turned out too and the only issue is that I’ll now have to beg the shop owner to get me some more jackfruit. He seems a little bit bemused by my quirky taste in food as I haven’t managed to explain what I use it for…Pretend pork!? I don’t think he will appreciate the genius of this idea.
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 2-3 pinches ground cloves, adjust to taste
- 1 tsp sambal oelek (Indonesian chilli paste) or chilli powder, to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 x 565 g / 20 oz tins young (green) jackfruit in water
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- ยผ tsp white pepper (black is okay too)
- 1-2 tsp liquid smoke**, adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
SOFT TACOS (makes about 10 x 12 cm / 4.5″ diameter)
- 185 g / 1ยฝ cups all purpose white flour
- ยฝ tsp baking powder
- ยพ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
SALSA
- 15 ripe plumย tomatoes
- 1 spring onion, sliced thinly
- 2 tsp lime juice
- ยฝ tsp sugar
- salt & pepper, to taste
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- Romaine lettuce, shredded
- quick-pickled red onions (details in this recipe)
- vegan sour cream (details in this recipe)
- small bunch of coriander
- Drain both jackfruit tins. Cut the firm, pointy ends off each triangular piece of jackfruit (you can still use them if you wish, I don’t). Set aside.
- Heat up olive oil in a medium, heavy-bottomed, pan. Fry diced red onion until softened, translucent and lightly caramelised. Add chopped garlic and fry off gently until soft and fragrant.
- Add most of the spices: cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, a pinch of cinnamon and cloves to the onion-garlic mixture. Fry them off gently, stirring the whole time, for a minute or so.
- Mix in the tomato and chilli paste.
- Now add in the prepared jackfruit along with soy sauce, maple syrup, liquid smoke and apple cider vinegar. Mix everything really well. Squash the jackfruit pieces with your mixing spoon so that the individual fibres separate more. Season with white pepper and another pinch of ground cloves if you wish. Simmer the mixture gently for another 10-15 minutes and then allow it to cool down. Place in the fridge overnight to intensify the flavour.
- Just before you are ready to assemble the tacos, set the oven to 200ยฐ C / 390ยฐ F (fan function). Spread the jackfruit pieces on a baking paper-lined baking tray and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until a little browned.
- Put a kettle on. To make tacos mix flour, baking powder and salt in a big bowl. Add olive oil to the flour mixture and incorporate it well with your hands. Once the water comes to the boil, add about 120 ml / ยฝ cup of hot water in. Initially mix it all together with a spoon (as the mixture will be too hot), then start kneading the dough with your hands – you may need to add another splash of water if the dough is still too dry.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Rest the dough for about 30 min covered with a damp kitchen towel. The resting step is very important so do not skip it. You can also make the dough a day in advance and keep it in the fridge overnight – if you decide to do that, bring the dough to room temperature before rolling the tacos.
- Once the dough has rested, divide it into 10 equal pieces.
- Set a medium, heavy-bottomed or griddle pan on a medium heat (it’s important not to get the pan too hot, I used setting 4 out of 6).
- Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll out tortillas on a lightly floured surface. Refrain from adding too much flour as it will produce dry tacos. Once you are happy with the shape* and thickness (make them as thin as possible), put your taco on a hot pan.
- Little bubbles will start to appear after about 30 seconds, if any large air pockets appear pierce them with the tip of a knife. After about 1-2 minutes from when the taco hits the pan, flip the taco and cook for only about 30 seconds on the other side. Do not let them sit in the hot pan for too long as it will produce dry and cracking tacos.
- Keep cooked tacos in a stack in a warm place (like a very low oven) covered with a damp towel (to prevent them from drying out).
- Chop tomatoes into a fine dice. Add sliced spring onion and lime juice. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Set aside.
- Finally, assemble your tacos by putting pulled jackfruit, chopped lettuce, tomato salsa, pickled onions (if using) and coriander in the middle of each taco. Drizzle with vegan sour cream.
TACOS
SALSA
ASSEMBLY
**If you don’t have liquid smoke, you could increase the amount of smoked paprika instead.
It's not the end of the world, just skip them. Hope this helps! Ania
I'm so happy to hear that you have enjoyed these, especially given that you are new to veganism and jackfruit (massive congrats for giving eating vegan a go, btw). If you want to try more dishes with this South-East Asian meat substitute, you may want to check out my gyro recipe, which is very popular, my bao buns and this more recent jackfruit tagine if you fancy something comforting. Hope this helps and many thanks for taking the time to review - I really appreciate it! x Ania
Glad to your enjoyed them, but sorry to hear about your son's allergy - that must be quite tricky for you at times. Many people use coconut aminos (you can get it in good health stores usually) instead of soy sauce. Hope this helps! Ania
Thanks for your feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll be honest, I've never tried freezing this filling myself but I don't see why that would be a good idea. Ania
Thank you for helping me to overcome my fear of cooking jackfruit!
It's sounds like 2.5 tins is probably ideal. The ones I used are 280 g of drained weight per tin. Hope that helps! Ania
Great flavors and texture. Thanks for the recipe!
I love this recipe and have cooked it for so many people! I brought it in to work yesterday and everyone was fighting for leftovers in our monthly grub club... Jackfruit is so popular now and I can get it on Amazon and some local supermarkets - so there is always a supply. I am interested in cooking without soy as my colleague at work has an allergy - can you suggest an alternative ingredient? Also thinking of doing a cherry coke version like many use with pork to see how that works. Thanks again!
P.s. 'chilli power' in the ingredients - suggest sp 'powder'?
Thanks so much for your kind words, I am glad to hear it went down well. If you want to make it soy-free, you could use Coconut Aminos instead, but adjust the flavour to your liking as I am not sure how it compares to an all purpose soy sauce saltiness-wise. Hope that helps! Ania (PS: thanks, good spot!)
Made this tonight for my partner and I. It's so good! Can't wait to try the leftovers tomorrow as you mentioned the flavors come out more.
I opt'd to buy flour tortillas to cut down on time. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Just wanted to let you know I made this tonight and itโs perfect. Itโs so much tastier than most other meat replacements. Thank you for sharing! This is going to be made many times more here.
Thanks for the recipe, and your blog is great!
Thanx for sharing. everybody enjoyed it.
Yes, that's correct - the recipe calls for 2 tins of 20 oz/567 g net weight. I've only come across cans of that net weight so I didn't realise they come in other sizes. I will add a note now. Cheers! Ania
Just a word of thanks for your recipes and blog. I adopted a vegan diet over the summer but found a lot of the recipes available online and elsewhere to be lacking in taste and inspiration. I then stumbled across your website, tried a few of your recipes, and quickly came to see the passion, dedication, and skill that went in to them.
This jackfruit taco recipe is probably my favourite out of the many I've tried now. It was good enough to convince some non-vegan friends to substitute it in for the chicken fajitas they'd usually make for themselves. One quick question though; what are some good uses for the harder, pointed ends of the jackfruit pieces once they've been removed?
Very many thanks, and welcome back to the U.K. also!
As for your question, I usually chop them very finely and smuggle them into stuff ;) - like a stuffing for vegan Wellington or into vegan bolognese sauce - no one ever knows...
And thanks so much! It's strangely familiar and new at the same time, grey skies will take some getting used to again but otherwise we enjoy being back!
Ania
I made the filling used in the jack fruit tacos! I treated it like pulled pork, like we have here in North Carolina. Since we like it a tad spicy, I increased the hot spices and decreased the maple syrup. It was AWESOME!!! My Moma couldn't tell the differentce and was pretty impressed with your skills! Thank you so much for providing us with these great recipes!
I would simmer fresh jackfruit in veggie stock until softened before seasoning it in a pan. Be careful with seeds though as I have read somewhere that they can be poisonous if not handled correctly. Ania
Thanks, but that really depends on where you live :) I live on a small Greek island in the middle of the sea and the only jackfruit I am able to buy is tinned and even that wasn't easy - I had to beg a shopkeeper to import it for me! Ania
I don't own one but tinned jackfruit it doesn't require very long cooking time so not sure if slow cooker would work here. Sorry I cannot be of more help! Ania
First, I have to say that I'm Mexican and these tacos look like the real thing! Many times I see "tacos" recipes but they don't like like anything we eat here. I'm really looking forward to trying this!
Second, we just (as in, five minutes ago) came back from the tianguis (what we call farmer's markets here) and saw they were selling a HUGE jack fruit. Before buying it, we were wondering if you know whether we could freeze it? It's just two of us and we would like to make sure we either cook all of it, or freeze some it.
This blog is THE BEST EVER vegan blog. Your recipes are delicious and creative and super healthy. We love you! Greetings from Mexico City.
Iโve never used fresh jackfruit as they donโt sell it here, but I am pretty sure you can freeze it. Just be careful with the seeds as Iโve read that they can be poisonous if not prepared correctly!
Ania
I'm so excited try and make this for dinner tonight! I was wondering how many ounces are in each can of jackfruit that you used. I have one 20 oz can from Trader Joe's, so would I need to use half of everything in the recipe? Thanks!
I used two 20 oz cans for this recipe so if you only have one can you could simply halve the other ingredients. Hope that helps! Ania
I have never used frozen but my instinct would be to defrost slowly by leaving it at room temperature, drain away the water and the proceed as per the recipe. Hope that helps! Ania