The market · Fruit · Southeast Asia, South Asia

Jackfruit

The largest tree fruit there is: young and green it's a vegetable; ripe it's sweet, yellow and strongly scented.

tropical · fruity · mild when young

What to do with it

Classics built on it
FilipinoHalo-haloShaved ice and evaporated milk over layers of sweet beans, fruit and jellies, crowned with ube, leche flan and ice cream.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Young / green
Mild and meaty — for curries like Padang's gulai nangka.
Ripe
Sweet yellow bulbs, eaten raw or in desserts.
Seeds
Boiled or roasted, like chestnuts.

Goes with

coconut milkchilliturmericgalangal

Knowing it

Where to buy
Young jackfruit in tins, in brine rather than syrup; ripe bulbs fresh or frozen from Asian grocers.
Worth knowing
Oil your knife and hands before cutting a whole one — the sap is like glue.

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