Jackfruit "Carnitas" Tacos with Pineapple

I love learning new vegetarian recipes. Lately, I feel like I’ve been eating too much meat. I miss how my body felt when I used to be a vegetarian. But it’s so hard to go back to that lifestyle, especially right now as I’m working on the Cambodian cookbook.

After recently having jackfruit kabobs at Elf, a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant in Silverlake, I felt inspired to try making something savory with it myself. When I think of jackfruit, I think of the sweet fleshy, orange fruit that I’ve had during my travels through Southeast Asia. However, green jackfruit (young) from the can tastes nothing like it. It’s sort of bland but does have a nice meaty texture. This is actually a good thing for me because I’ve discovered that I’m allergic to the ripe, orange version of the fruit. If you haven’t tasted fresh, ripe jackfruit, you need to try it! It’s so good!

While there are so many options for jackfruit recipes that I want to try, I started with carnitas tacos. Because who doesn’t love tacos?! I adapted my pork carnitas recipe to this one. I think the pineapple slices really make the taco. But I’m biased because I love pineapple on everything!

I want to try making bbq jackfruit “pulled pork” or jackfruit “chicken” teriyaki next time. If you have any other suggestions, let me know! I’d love to hear your ideas!

Jackfruit “Carnitas” Tacos (makes about 8-10 small tacos)

Ingredients:

·      1 can of green jackfruit

·      1 package of small corn tortilla

·      ½ sweet yellow onion, diced

·      1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (optional – too spicy for me!)

·      ½ cup of tangerine or orange juice

·      2 tsp oregano

·      1 tsp cumin

·      1 tsp paprika

·      1 tsp salt

·      ½ tsp pepper

·      1 tsp honey

·      1 tbsp lime juice

·      1 tbsp olive oil

Toppings:

·      ¼ sweet yellow onion, finely diced

·      ¼ cup of cilantro, finely diced

·      1 cup of pineapple, sliced

·      ½ cup of radishes, thinly sliced

·      salsa (I made my own, see previous blog post)

·      1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:

In a large bowl, break apart the jackfruit and remove any seeds.  Add tangerine juice (or orange juice), oregano, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, honey, and lime juice.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with olive oil.  Saute the onions.  Once it starts to turn a golden brown color, add jalapeno slices if you like spice.  Otherwise, pour in the jackfruit mixture and braise for about 8-10 minutes.  You may need to lower the heat to medium. Stir occasionally. If the mixture gets too dry, you can add a little more tangerine/orange juice.

Serve over corn tortilla with fresh salsa.  Top with fresh onions, cilantro, radishes, pineapple slices, and lime wedges.