I have had it many times. Wonderful aromatic sweet fruit.

Actually even it is large, there is not completely fruit inside. The skin is very thick, there are big seeds and in between the edible meat, there is a lot of pulp.

It needs to be very ripe to be sweet. The un-riped ones can be used as imitation pulled pork for vegetarians.

Many stores where they sell them are willing to sell you part of a whole one. Just ask.

dcarch

Canned jackfruit pulps cannot be compared to fresh or frozen ones. This is one fruit that are easy to like.

If you want to try them, I would recommend to buy the frozen pulps. Don't buy the whole jackfruit. They get messy with removing the pulps if you're not familiar with how to do it. The last one I cut it open to remove the pulps and seeds was over 40 lbs. It was heavy and alot of work.

Dcarch, since you're more familiar with it, have you ever cut one apart yourself? If you don't know this already, here's a tip I've learned. Lightly coat the knife with cooking oil before using to cut the jackfruit. It'd make it easier to wash off the sap from the knife later on.

I agree, frozen jack fruit taste like fresh with the same taste and texture. Canned JF tastes good, but nothing like fresh JF.

It takes some effort to open a JF. I will have to try the cooking oil trick. I just use a cleaver to hack it in half then start picking the fruit out.

Oh, I think I have seen recipes for the seeds.

dcarch

I've never seen fresh jackfruit, I did buy a jar of canned jackfruit.

It wasn't the taste, but the texture that got me, it was kind of soft and almost like custard. I could not swallow it, I had to spit it out and I discarded the rest of the jar.

So fresh is different, as I assumed, but I've not found any to try it.

Annie

Annie, are you sure that was jack fruit?

I have not seen jack fruit in a jar. I have eaten many brands of canned jackfruit, they are always very firm, never like custard.

dcarch

dcarch, it was definitely jackfruit, it came in a clear glass jar which was tall and thin and I bought it at the Asian market in Ann Arbor.

OK, so if I see a different brand, I should try again, the stuff I had was definitely not firm, it was actually kind of creamy, like custard or pudding, intensely sweet and had kind of a musky taste, like over-ripe cantaloupe maybe.

It was yellow, if that makes a difference.

Annie

Annie, There is a tropical fruit called Durian. On the outside kind of looks like a jackfruit and the meat inside is yellow and in fact has a custard texture. It is also called custard fruit.

But I don't think that's what you had. Durian has a very powerful aroma. The aroma is so strong that in some locations it is banned to be eaten in public places.

dcarch

dcarch, here's a link to the kind/brand I bought.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: jackfruit

I've had canned jackfruit, and I've seen fresh in the market, but I've never bought it because they were so large. Recently I bought dried jackfruit, and I like it better than canned, plus it is so convenient. It comes in sort of flat ovals that remind me of fruit rollups but of course is much better than that. It's easy for me to keep this at my desk to prevent me from eating cookies.

Lars

Annie, very interesting. I have not come across that in all the Asian stores here in NYC. Still, I am puzzled how they can make the texture mushy. Try the canned ones next time. They are not bad.

Lars, when I was in LA recently, I went to that big Chinese store and bought 1/4 of a jackfruit. It was very good.

Yes the dried jackfruit makes good healthy snacks.

dcarch

I've never seen it dried or fresh. Now that I'm told it's not supposed to be soft and squishy, even when canned, I'm wondering if the stuff I got was even any good or if it was the stuff they put out just hoping some clueless farmer would buy it because we don't know any better.

Or maybe there are different varieties? The stuff from the Philippines different from the stuff from another place, kind of like a Granny Smith apple is nothing like a Delicious?

Annie

Indian grocery stores in bay area have started carrying pieces of jackfruit! I have been buying them as my DD8 loves them. If you buy a section, it is not too hard to get the fruit pieces. Use a small sharp knife and cut at the base.The strands are sticky and people traditionally oil their hands. I just scrub my hands well after cutting. The fresh fruit is so much better than frozen ones or canned ones. Make sure you pick something that is quite bright yellow. Pale custardy color means that the fruit is not yet ripe. Stores well in the fridge in a airtight container for a few days.

I also use the seeds. I remove the seeds and air dry them for a day or so, pound them until they crack and use them as a vegetable in indian curries. Very mild nutty flavor.

I'm currently visiting friends in Bangalore, Sth India, and thought some may be interested to see these fruit in their natural habitat...personally, just the smell of them makes me feel ill, but obviously some people relish them...

And another....

I've only had jackfruit once and it wasn't good. It was the canned stuff; both the taste and texture were the issues if I remember correctly. My father had used the fruit in a sweet and sour sauce to go over a deep fried whole fish. Maybe I should try it again - my adult tastebuds are probably a lot less picky.

Shax, those are interesting, for some reason I had this picture in my mind of jackfruit growing in clusters up high, like coconuts. Wrong, as usual, LOL.

Donna, I follow the rule of a prior poster, Renee. She had the "7 year rule". Because I'm very picky I remind myself to try something at least every 7 years. I've learned to eat peanut butter and avocado, I'm still working on olives. And jackfruit, apparently. (grin)

Annie