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The jackfruit goulash tastes just as hearty as its traditional counterpart – and without any meat. We show you which ingredients you can add to the plant-based alternative and present a recipe in more detail.

Jackfruit goulash is a hearty dish and goes particularly well with winter cuisine. You can also prepare vegan goulash with tofu or soy strips. The corresponding South Asian fruit is used in the jackfruit goulash. The recipe is quick to prepare and may even convince non-vegans. We will also tell you which ingredients are suitable in addition to jackfruit and what you can combine well with the goulash.

Jackfruit Goulash: Key Ingredients

For a successful jackfruit goulash, not only the aromatic taste, but also the right consistency is crucial.

Green, unripe jackfruit is particularly well suited as a meat substitute, as it is almost tasteless and the consistency is reminiscent of real pieces of meat. Buying jackfruit fresh is not that easy. You often have to be lucky to occasionally find them in well-stocked wholesale markets. Alternatively, buy canned green jackfruit. It serves the same purpose, lasts longer, and is easier to obtain.

However, jackfruit has to cover very long transport routes to get to Germany and therefore causes high CO2 emissions. Therefore, only use jackfruit occasionally in the kitchen. Local alternatives can include locally grown tofu, soy, seitan and lupine.

In addition to jackfruit, the insider tip in this recipe is the broth of sour, pickled cucumbers. The pickles give the jackfruit goulash a fine flavor that is very similar to the hearty meat goulash.

When buying your ingredients, always make sure that they come from organic farming. In this way you support sustainable agriculture that does not use chemical pesticides. You can get organic ingredients in organic shops or at the weekly market. Organic seals such as Bioland or Demeter are a good indication of sustainable purchasing.

Jackfruit goulash: recipe

Ingredients:

250 g canned jackfruit
200 g tomatoes
350 large peppers
1 piece onion
2 clove(s) garlic
4 tbsp oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
200 mlred wine, dry
700 ml vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
60 ml gherkin stock from pickles
6 large gherkins
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) of pepper

Directions:

Drain the canned jackfruit in a colander. If necessary, cut the jackfruit into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Cut them into small cubes. Peel onion and garlic. Finely chop the garlic and cut the onion into thin strips.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan. Fry the jackfruit in it over high heat for about five minutes.
Add onion and garlic to the jackfruit. Fry them for two minutes until translucent.
Heat the other 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan. Add the jackfruit and onions from the pan along with the tomato paste. Roast the ingredients in the pot for at least four minutes. Let the tomato paste roast well so that the aroma can develop.
Deglaze everything with the red wine. Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce and cucumber stock. Let the ingredients boil.


Put the tomatoes and peppers in the pot. Cook all ingredients for 20 minutes on low heat.
Cut the pickles into cubes and add them to the goulash five minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Season the finished jackfruit goulash with salt and pepper.
Serve the jackfruit goulash with fresh bread, potatoes or potato dumplings. Sprinkle some fresh parsley over the goulash as a garnish.

The jackfruit curry is a healthy and vegan alternative to Indian meat dishes. We’ll tell you which spices are best and how to cook a delicious curry with just a few ingredients.

Jackfruit curry is the vegan version of classic curry dishes that contain meat. You only need a few ingredients for this simple dish. The fresh spices are particularly important, and it is best to grind them before cooking. They develop an intense aroma that gives the jackfruit curry an Asian touch.

Jackfruit: The exotic meat substitute

As the name suggests, the jackfruit curry is based on the tropical fruit jackfruit. Jackfruit has become increasingly popular with vegans and vegetarians in recent years. The consistency is meat-like and the pulp tastes neutral. Thus, jackfruit is used in a variety of dishes and national cuisines.

However, jackfruit is a tropical fruit with a poor ecological balance: it mainly grows in India and Bangladesh. The long transport routes to Europe significantly increase CO2 emissions and contribute to a high ecological footprint.

Therefore, when shopping for the jackfruit curry, make sure that the jackfruit is organically certified. The start-up company Jacky F. offers sustainably produced jackfruit. The organic manufacturers Govinda, Taiga Naturos and Lotao also have jackfruit products in their range. You can get Jackfriut in well-stocked health food stores or in Asian shops.

If possible, buy the remaining products from organic farming and from regional cultivation. This reduces transport routes and CO2 emissions. In addition, organic-certified labels such as Bioland, Naturland or Demeter do not use environmentally harmful chemical-synthetic pesticides.

Jackfruit Curry: An easy recipe

In this recipe we use canned jackfruit. This is quick to prepare and often easier to find in stores than fresh fruit.

Ingredients:

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of grenades
20 ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric
1 green chili pepper
2 onions
2 pieces of tomatoes
3 tablespoons coconut oil
250 g jackfruit
100 ml water
1 tablespoon date syrup
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Directions:

Place coriander seeds, cumin, and allspice seeds in a mortar and pestle. Paint the seeds until they crumble.
Peel the ginger and garlic.
Roughly chop the ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, and green chilli. Grind them together with the spice mixture in the mortar until you get a coarse paste.
Peel the onion, wash the tomatoes. Cut the onion into fine strips and the tomatoes into small cubes.
Heat the coconut oil in a large pan.
Sauté the onion in it for five minutes.
Add the spice mixture from the mortar and simmer over high heat for a minute.
Mix the tomatoes with the ingredients in the pan. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the canned jackfruit and cut into small, bite-sized pieces as needed. Put the jackfruit in the pan.


Mix the ingredients with the water. Let the curry continue to cook for ten minutes over medium heat.
Refine the jackfruit curry with date syrup and garam masala.
Garnish the finished jackfruit curry with fresh coriander and serve.
Tip: Serve the delicious jackfruit curry with some naan bread or chapati (an Indian flatbread). Of course, the classic rice goes well as a side dish with the jackfruit stew.

Lovers of exotic fruits cannot pass by such a miracle of nature as jackfruit.

  1. Both the fruits and the trees on which they grow are called jackfruit. The homeland of jackfruit is India and Bangladesh. Gradually, these trees have become more widespread throughout the world.
  2. In appearance, it resembles a durian, the same oblong and with thorns, but nevertheless these are two different fruits.
  3. Peel the jackfruit and remove the segments into which all the pulp is divided. The pulp segments resemble a pear in appearance, they are laid out in separate bags and sold ready-made.
  4. The main edible part is large yellow slices, which outwardly resemble thick flower petals; it tastes both melon and pineapple. The fruit is the size of a large melon with a lot of seeds inside.
  5. The fruit is large and heavy, resembles a watermelon in shape, and can only be cut with a large knife.
  6. Even in Thailand, jackfruit is mixed with other fruits, added to ice cream or coconut milk. The seeds are prepared separately and added to many dishes.
  7. Jackfruit seeds contain a good amount of protein, so they can be added to various dishes. You can also replace lentils in your daily diet with these seeds.
  8. Jackfruit seeds contain vitamin A, which is an essential vitamin for healthy hair and preventing dryness and breakage.
  9. Jackfruit is a source of vitamin C and antioxidants that help strengthen the immune system. A strong immune system protects the body against many common illnesses such as coughs, colds, and flu.
  10. Jackfruit is rich in carbohydrates and calories. It is a rich source of simple sugars like fructose and sucrose for an instant energy boost. The fruit contains zero cholesterol, making it safe and healthy for almost everyone.
  11. Jackfruit contains potassium, which regulates sodium levels in the body. Good potassium levels help maintain the body’s electrolyte balance. Hence, it is beneficial to reduce high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks.
  12. Jackfruit is a rich source of fiber, making it an excellent laxative. It improves digestion and prevents constipation.
  13. Copper is vital for thyroid metabolism, especially for hormone production. Jackfruit is loaded with this powerful micromineral and keeps your metabolism healthy.
  14. Due to its numerous advantages, jackfruit certainly deserves a place of honor in our diet, although it is still exotic for our region.

The jackfruit is an insider tip for vegetarians and vegans because its pulp can be used unripe like chicken or pork! So it’s no wonder that the latest food trend takes advantage of this meaty quality. Making your own vegan pulled pork burgers from jackfruit is currently a hit with foodies! Here is the recipe for it.

That’s how healthy the “vegetable meat” is jackfruit

The unripe jackfruit, which can be up to one meter long and weigh up to ten kilograms, has a consistency that is very similar to that of chicken breast fillet, which is why they are a great meat substitute. Ripe fruits taste similar to a mixture of pineapple and banana – but the taste of the kernels is more reminiscent of chestnuts.

Jackfruit is particularly rich in nutritious starches, which explains why they play an important role in countries of origin such as Southeast Asia or Brazil as a staple food and as a substitute for rice. With 27 milligrams per 100 grams, tropical fruits contain a high proportion of calcium, which is particularly important for healthy bones and teeth.

The seeds of the jackfruit are also small power packs because they are full of vitamins from the B group, magnesium, iron, and sulfur.

The vegan pulled pork burger recipe

The ingredients:

For the fruity barbecue sauce:

  • 2 juice oranges
  • 1 pineapple (approx. 125 g pulp)
  • 2 small onions
  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 200ml ketchup
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 dried chili peppers

For the burger:

  • 1 can of jackfruit pieces (from the Asian store, about 560 grams)
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 2 burger buns
  • 4 lettuce leaves
  • 2 radicchio leaves
  • 1 tomato

The preparation:

  1. For the barbecue sauce, halve and squeeze the oranges. Measure out 100 milliliters of juice. Peel the pineapple and dice the flesh into small pieces. Peel and finely chop the onions.
  2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and sauté while stirring. Drain the fat from the pan, leaving about 1/2 teaspoon.
  3. Add the pineapple, ketchup, maple syrup, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and chilies to the onions in the pan. Bring everything to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about five minutes.
  4. Hang a colander over a bowl. Pour in the sauce, press through the sieve with a ladle, and leave to cool.
  5. Now for the burger, rinse the jackfruit pieces under running water and drain.
  6. Peel shallots and garlic clove. Cut the shallots into narrow strips and finely chop the garlic.
  7. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the onion and sauté over medium heat. Then add the garlic and jackfruit pieces and sauté for about six minutes.
  8. Add the barbecue sauce to the pan and continue to simmer over low heat for another 15 minutes.
  9. In the meantime, toast the burger buns, and wash and drain the two lettuce leaves. Cut the radicchio into fine strips and the tomato into fine slices.
  10. Divide the jackfruit into fine fibers, place the lettuce leaves, tomato, pulled jackfruit, and radicchio on the bun halves, and fold them together – bon appetit!

A new hype for vegetarians and vegans comes from the tropics: jackfruit conquers the palate as a meat substitute. We show how useful the fruit is as an alternative to meat and where you can already buy jackfruit.

Jackfruit grows in the tropics around the world and is usually eaten ripe and sweet in its countries of origin. Depending on the variety, a single fruit can weigh up to 35 kilos. The jackfruit tree can grow up to 20 meters tall, but bears its fruit on the trunk, making it easier to harvest. If you cut open the ripe fruit, a milky juice comes out that is reminiscent of glue. No wonder, because it belongs to the mulberry family – like the rubber tree (Ficus), which has the same sticky property.

In its countries of origin, the ripe jackfruit is served as a sweet dessert or eaten as a snack; similar to bananas, it is often dried into crispy chips. The kernels are also used: either dried and ground into flour or roasted as an addition to savory dishes.

Jackfruit has recently been rediscovered as a meat substitute. However, this is less so in their countries of origin than on the plates of vegetarians and vegans in western countries.

Jackfruit as a meat substitute

In order to use the tropical fruit as a substitute for meat in hearty vegetarian or vegan dishes, it must be harvested unripe. When ripe, their taste is reminiscent of fruit gum and would be out of place in goulash. Raw, however, the unripe fruits are inedible and hard, only their further processing makes them the fine-grained substitute for beef, pork or chicken.

In order to give the jackfruit tree enough strength to let a few jackfruit grow big, sweet and juicy, some smaller fruits are knocked off the tree unripe in the course of fruit growth. Every hobby gardener knows the method of “cutting out” the native tomato plants, every winegrower does the same thing in his vineyard on the vine.

Instead of disposing of these sorted unripe fruits, they are placed in brine for the local market or, more recently, processed into meat substitutes for export to western industrialized countries. The unripe, fibrous flesh is almost tasteless and can therefore be marinated to taste.

If the fruit pieces are cooked in a marinade and then seared, they are very reminiscent of meat. The crust also creates an almost perfect optical illusion. After all, it is the spices that determine the taste of meat.

Where can you buy jackfruit?

If you want to get started right away to conjure up a vegetarian goulash, a tender vegan “pulled pork” or a juicy burger, you won’t find what you’re looking for in every supermarket right away. Most of the canned or frozen pulp sold in Asian stores was harvested ripe. It tastes delicious, but it is only good as a fruity dessert, not as a hearty ingredient in meatless dishes.

If you are lucky enough to have the list of ingredients translated by the sales staff or do some research, you can also find unripe jackfruit pickled in brine in Asian, mostly Indian grocery stores. You can also find canned unripe jackfruit online. But before they can be used as an alternative to meat, they have to be cooked until soft by heating.

Jackfruit as a meat substitute: nutritional values ​​similar to potatoes

Jackfruit actually mimics the fibers of meat in texture, and with spices it’s possible to create not only a similar mouthfeel, but an almost identical taste. However, the jackfruit has less to do with the nutritional values ​​of meat. No wonder, given its high carbohydrate content, it is often served straight from the home garden as a substitute for rice in its countries of origin.

Nevertheless, jackfruit suppliers like to advertise their natural product with claims such as “nutrient-rich”, “rich in minerals”, “high in fiber”, “high in potassium”, “high in calcium and magnesium” and other advantages.

Basically, these statements are not made out of thin air, but a comparison with local food is worthwhile to decide for yourself whether it is really worth importing a jackfruit over thousands of kilometers (each per 100g):

Potassium: jackfruit 407mg; Potatoes 384mg, pumpernickel 192mg
Magnesium: Jackfruit 37mg; potatoes 22mg; Pumpernickel 54mg
Calcium: Jackfruit 27mg; potatoes 7mg; Pumpernickel 24mg
Protein: jackfruit 1.1g; potatoes 2g; Pumpernickel 4.84g
Fiber: jackfruit 4.15g; potatoes 1.56g; Pumpernickel 8.83g
While jackfruit’s reputation as a super-healthy meat substitute isn’t false, it’s also a bit blatant. As with avocados, the following therefore applies: only those who really use it to replace meat are actually better off ecologically. If you only put it on your plate for trend reasons or for alleged superfood nutritional values, you will find more ecological alternatives. (With this and other nutritional information, it should be remembered that the degree of ripeness, preparation methods, etc. also have an influence on the nutrients contained.)

Jackfruit instead of soy?

So far, the most popular meat substitute products have been protein-rich specialties made from tofu or seitan. The consistency of seitan is also somewhat similar to that of meat, but it is not suitable for people who suffer from gluten intolerance (celiac disease) or who want to avoid gluten.

Soy itself is a higher quality source of protein than meat, but not everyone likes it, has a different texture than meat and, depending on its origin, has been criticized for contributing to the deforestation of tropical forests or for being made from genetically modified soybeans.

The jackfruit’s path to success seems almost pre-programmed: it is gluten-free, has nothing to do with genetic engineering, offers an extremely meat-like mouthfeel and contains little fat. Green light for the jackfruit BBQ? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple…

Allergy to jackfruit

It’s not well-documented yet, but there is a risk of immediate allergic reactions with jackfruit. So if you are allergic anyway, you should definitely start small. Cross allergies are possible, for example, in allergies to nuts and birch pollen.

Transport routes worsen the ecological balance of the jackfruit

Those who do without meat or animal products often do so for ecological reasons. Not only the love of animals is decisive, but also the knowledge of the catastrophic ecological balance of animal-based foods is leading more and more consumers to eat vegetarian or vegan.

And that’s exactly the catch with the new meat substitute: Because the jackfruit only thrives in the tropics (especially India and Bangladesh), it already has a significant carbon footprint when it comes to our stores. Irrespective of whether it is shrink-wrapped, preserved in cans or transported and sold deep-frozen: the fruity meat alternative has already used up a lot of fossil fuels before it is eaten.

We do not yet have any publicly available data on the precise CO2 emissions from jackfruit. Nevertheless, one should at least question the jackfruit from an ecological point of view. The life cycle assessment of regional, seasonal vegetables is probably better when consumed daily.

Because jackfruit is just about to become the new star among vegans and vegetarians, there are only a few farms that cultivate the fruit according to the guidelines of organic cultivation (see above: Buy jackfruit: preferably organic). On the positive side, jackfruit is typically grown in mixed cultures.