Today Murray Edwards College served delicious Jackfruit Tacos at the Vegan Pop Up event on the Downing Site in central Cambridge. Three Colleges brought delicious vegan options for tasting, alongside recipe cards so that the dishes can be tried out at home. Many visitors mentioned they had heard of jackfruit, which has the appearance of pulled pork and can be cooked with spices to achieve the BBQ flavour, and wanted to try it. The reaction from all of the tasters was very positive and all of our recipe cards were gone by the end of the event!
Spicy Jackfruit Tacos – free recipe
Allergens: Tortillas contain gluten (although you could easily provide gluten free tortillas!)
Ingredients
565g fresh jackfruit or jackfruit in water or brine if you cannot source fresh
30ml coconut oil
55g white onion thinly sliced
12g minced garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
8g ground smoked paprika
8g ground cumin
8g chili powder
24-36g maple syrup or organic brown sugar
3tsp Habanero Sauce (use more of less depending on your spice preferences)
160ml water (more as needed)
45ml lime juice
Directions
- Thoroughly rinse, drain and sort the jackfruit, the pieces come in chunks or triangle shapes. Cut off the centre ‘core’ portion of the fruit that is tougher in texture and separate it from the rest of the fruit. Chop into smaller pieces. For the remaining portion of the jackfruit which appears stringier, use your hands to pull into small shredded pieces. Rinse the jackfruit in a colander, drain and dry.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat, once hot add oil of choice, onion and garlic. Saute for 4-5 minutes or until onions are golden brown and softened.
- Add jackfruit, salt, paprika, cumin, chili powder then some of the maple syrup or sugar, chili peppers, water, lime juice and the Harbanero Sauce. Stir to coat the jackfruit an reduce heat to low-medium. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- For finer texture, as your jackfruit is cooking, use your spoon to mash the fruit into smaller pieces or use two forks to shred the jackfruit as it cooks down.
- Once the jackfruit has been properly summered, taste and adjust the flavour as needed, adding more paprika or cumin for smokiness. Chilli powder for heat, chipotle pepper for spice, sugar or maple syrup for sweetness. Lime for acidity.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook for 2-3 more minutes to get a little extra colour/texture then remove from the heat.
Serving
Finely shred the red cabbage, then on top of your tortilla, layer the jackfruit mix followed by the cabbage, roughly chopped coriander, black beans and salsa. Top with Sriracha Sauce. Enjoy!
Sustainability information
Jackfruit tacos
Total greenhouse gasses per serving: 1117.5g CO2e
CO2e per serving equivalent to driving 3.75 miles in an average UK petrol car
Beef tacos (for comparison)
Total green house gases per serving: 4267.5g CO2e
CO2e per serving equivalent to driving 14.32 miles in an average UK petrol car
