fruit · The Trophy Room
Jackfruit
The largest tree-borne fruit in the world — a single jackfruit can weigh as much as a small child and hang straight off the trunk. Ripe, the golden pods taste of banana, mango, and bubblegum; unripe, the stringy flesh cooks up as the famous meat substitute. One fruit, two completely different foods.
Identifying
- enormous green-brown fruit, knobbly-skinned, growing right on the trunk and big branches
- opens to reveal dozens of golden-yellow fleshy pods, each around a big seed
- sticky white latex throughout — oil your hands and knife before cutting
- sweet tropical aroma when ripe, mild and starchy when green
Facts
- can top 40 kilos, the heaviest fruit that grows on any tree
- unripe jackfruit's fibrous texture shreds like pulled pork — hence its fame as a plant "meat"
- the big seeds are edible too, boiled or roasted like chestnuts
