#020: Devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread

Here is a recipe using the ingredient that’s having it’s moment, de rigueur of our modern way of eating for sometime. I’m talking jackfruit, but wait, no need for alarm, it’s not a ‘another’ vegan version of bbq pulled pork that seems to win the popularity vote when it comes to jackfruit recipes on the internet.

Instead, in this recipe, jackfruit stars in a healthy and refreshing salad, that is easy to make (hardly any cooking involved) and quick to put together (less than ten minutes).

Mind you, I must point out that when I say healthy, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be boring. This salad orchestrates the multi-flavour in depth; the zing from the lemon and the tang from the plain yogurt (alternately vegan yogurt) makes the dish refreshing. The mild chilli-ness wakes the senses up, and the subtly pungent spring onion and the fragrant coriander (cilantro) makes the ensemble complex overall.

The important key to making a successful jackfruit salad, or indeed when incorporating jackfruit to any savoury recipe, is in the prep it to eliminate the pungent exotic fruitiness which overthrows the flavour profile and sends us involuntarily to the tropics.

– Devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread –

The bread can also be served like the Italian Panzanella, where it’s cubed and tossed in to the salad!

INGREDIENTS:
A can/ jar of jackfruit
Salt
2 heaped tbs of plain yogurt (alternatively, vegan yogurt)
1 whole Lemon
Dash of Tabasco (to taste)
Red chilli (or chilli flakes)
15g of coriander (cilantro)
1 Spring onion (scallions)
5 pink radishes
2 tbs of baby capers
Pepper to taste

*******************************

METHOD:

1. Sprinkle 2 tsp of salt on the jackfruit and give it a good massage and pull apart the flesh in to thin shreds.
(a) Don’t worry about the large amount of salt as we’ll be washing it away in the next step.
(b) Massaging in the salt helps it break down and soften. It also draws out some of its water content, opening them up to soak in the flavours that we’re going to introduce.
(c) Here, remove the many seeds. We won’t be using them in this recipe as it’s texture and tropical-fruitiness would be a distraction in the final dish.

Shredded jackfruit with the seeds removed for the devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread recipe

* * * *

2. Thoroughly rinse the salt off and drain.

* * * *

3. Boil some water in a pot, and dunk the jackfruit in it for a whole minute. Drain, and rinse in cold water until the jackfruit is cold to the touch.
(d) Here, taste a strand. If it still tastes fruity, keep rinsing until it is not.

* * * *

4. Next, we move on to making the salad dressing. Combine the following in a bowl:
2 heaped tbs of plain yogurt (alt = vegan yogurt)
Juice of a whole lemon
15g of finely chopped coriander leaves (US = cilantro)
1 spring onion finely chopped
2 tbs of baby capers, kept as a whole or roughly chopped
5 pink radishes, finely stripped
Dash of Tabasco
Finely chopped red chilli (or dried chilli flakes)
(e) Be sparing with the tabasco and the chilli. I put in one sixth of a teaspoon of the tabasco, and a very small amount of chilli, and for me that was hot enough. Rather keep the heat to the minimum at this stage, and adjust the heat at the end.

* * * *

5. Add the thoroughly drained jackfruit. Toss together to thoroughly combine.

Ingredients for the devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread recipe

* * * *

6. Next, we leave aside the salad and move on to toasting a good piece of bread. Brush olive oil on both sides of a slice of sourdough bread, and griddle until you’ve transferred stripy char-marks from the griddle ridges.
(f) Of course, you can use a toaster instead, but making toast using a griddle pan with olive oil gives it a bit of smokiness and extra crispness, which really elevates it to the next level of yum.

* * * *

7. Pile on the devilled jackfruit salad in a big mound on top of the sourdough toast.


Devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread

4 Replies to “#020: Devilled jackfruit salad on grilled sourdough bread”

  1. Really beautiful looking salad Tamami! I like food that has a spicy kick so I will try this recipe. All the best, Claire x

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *