Trust me, you'll be drooling!

I am so damn excited about this recipe! I am constantly daydreaming about food and coming up with new ideas to experiment with. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. In this case, it was even better than I could have hoped! The combination of the almost burnt pineapple and the smokey pulled jackfruit are a perfect match. And the super fresh and zingy green chilli and coriander mayo bring it all together beautifully.

I am sure many of you have heard of jackfruit – the vegan alternative to pulled pork as its flakes like slow cooked meat and absorbs flavours well. It hit the big time several years ago and I was pretty excited to have a new ingredient to play with. I make Mexican style food all the time so this quickly became a stable filling for my taco's and quesadillas. It also made the cut on the Commonground Festival menu.

As you may know I grew up in an intentional community in rural Victoria called Commonground. A few years back we decided to run a social change and music festival on the property. So the catering team had to figure out how to feed hundreds of hungry guests. And you can't have a festival without taco's right? So we perfected the pulled jackfruit recipe and proceeded to make bucket loads of the stuff. And it was a hit. We even had one person come back convinced we had served her pulled pork not jackfruit! At the end of festival I was pretty happy to see the back of this recipe for a while. It is possible to have too much of a good thing!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I had a couple of pineapples left over from my rum, pineapple and coconut cocktail shoot. Thinking of ways to use it up, I remembered a pineapple salsa my talented friend Anna Augustine I made on a girls trip to Byron. The pineapple was grilled on the BBQ and then loaded with chilli and fresh herbs and tasted freakin delicious. Looking through my pantry I found a long lost can of jackfruit and that was it! Pork and pineapple are well know friends so it made sense that jackfruit and pineapple would work right? And it did! I love cooked pineapple so I am very happy to find a way to use it that does't sound super bogan (I am looking at you Hawaiian pizza). Even if you don't like cooked pineapple (apparently there are such crazy people out there) give this a go and I am sure you'll change your mind!

Pulled jackfruit taco's with caramelised pineapple, avocado and vegan chilli and coriander mayo

Prep time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Makes: 6 taco's

Dietary guideline: This recipe is vegan and gluten free if using gluten free soft tacos. For a FODMAP friendly version, see the end of the recipe.

Ingredients

6 medium sized soft tacos*

300g fresh pineapple peeled (about ¼ of a pineapple)

2 teaspoons of sugar (optional)

¼ cup of olive or other vegetable oil

2 avocado's peeled and sliced

1 lime cut into 6 wedges

2 fresh jalapenos or long green chilli's thinly sliced

1 golden shallot peeled and sliced thinly into rounds

1 small handful of fresh mint leaves

1 small bunch of coriander (some to be used in the mayo)

1 ½ cups of fresh greens such as baby spinach or watercress (optional)

For the jackfruit filling

1 brown onion peeled and diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 ½ tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 ½ teaspoons of smoked paprika

½ teaspoon of ground coriander

400g can of young jackfruit in water or brine**

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

½ cup of chopped or pureed tomato

1 ½ tablespoons of maple syrup of brown sugar

½ teaspoon of lemon juice

1 fresh red chilli de-seeded and diced

1 Massel chicken style stock cube

1 ½ cups of water

For the vegan mayo

1 clove of garlic

½ teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of American mustard (can replace with dijon)

2 teaspoon of lime juice

1 teaspoon of sugar or maple syrup

2 tablespoons of soy milk

60ml oil light flavoured vegetable oil

1 long green chilli de-seeded

¼ cup of chopped coriander (take this from the small bunch listed above)

*I like making my own and use this flatbread recipe https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/soft-wrap-bread-recipe

**many recipes say to remove the hard core of the jackfruit but I think its a waste and the core tastes totally fine.

Method

First make the pulled jackfruit. In a medium saucepan fry the onion in the 1 ½ tablespoon of olive oil over a medium heat stirring frequently for about 5 minutes or until the onions start to soften and go translucent. Turn the heat down to low, add the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes stirring frequently. Add the spices and continue to cook and stir for another five minutes.
Drain the jack fruit and add to the the onion and spice mix. Give it a good mix and cook for about five minutes or until the jackfruit takes on some colour. Add the remaining ingredients (tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, maple syrup, lemon juice, stock cube and water).
Let the jack fruit simmer on a low heat for about an hour stirring regularly so the bottom doesn't catch. You can add more water if needed. If you are in a hurry you can speed this up by turning up the heat and cooking it for half the time but I like the flavour that develops from slow cooking it.
After about an hour almost all the liquid should have reduced and you have a nice thick sticky mixture. I find that after all that cooking and stirring, the jackfruit doesn't require shredding as it will have naturally happened. But if desired, use a fork to pull apart the jackfruit further.
Taste the jackfruit, season and if needed adjust the flavour. If it's too sweet, add some more lemon juice and vice versa if it's too sour.
Meanwhile make the vegan mayo. As it's a small quantity I use a stick blender and a small jug*. Prepare the garlic for the mayo by grinding it up in a mortar and pestle with ½ teaspoon of salt flakes. When it's all nice and mushed up, add a teaspoon of the vegetable oil and mix further to incorporate. This process helps the raw garlic taste better and less full on. Scape the garlic our with a spatula and add to the jug with the mustard, soy milk, maple syrup, lime juice. Using the stick blender, give this all a quick whizz and once combined slowly add the vegetable oil as you continue to whizz. It should thicken up nicely. Add the coriander and chilli and whizz further until you have a nice green smooth mayo. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Store in the fridge until needed.
Cut the pineapple into 12 thin half moon slices. Heat a fry pan on medium-high heat and fry the pineapple in batches in a little of the olive oil – about 1 tablespoon per batch. I like to sprinkle one side with a little sugar to help it caramelise but if the pineapple is super sweet skip this step. The pineapple slices should take around 3 minutes per side – you want them to take on some dark golden colour. Set aide on a covered plate to keep warm whilst you prepare the taco.
Re-heat the jackfruit if needed and warm the soft taco's in a fry pan or in a microwave. Divide the jackfruit among the taco's, top with 2 slices of pineapple, a generous amount of the mayo and the remaining filling ingredients – the avocado, fresh chilli, shallot, mint, coriander and fresh greens if using. Serve immediately with a slice of lime and prepare to get messy hands!

*You could also use a mini food processor or hand whisk (if doing it by hand you would need to finely chop the coriander and chilli and add at the end). It would also work in a regular sized processor or whizzer if your triple the quantity. It lasts for at least a week in the fridge so make lots and eat in on everything!

FODMAP friendly adaption: According to Monash's FODMAP friendly food guide, freeze dried jackfruit is not tolerable but apparently canned young jackfruit in amounts under 150g is. To make this recipe completely FODMAP friendly, replace the garlic and onion in the pulled jackfruit with 2 teaspoons of garlic and onion infused oil. Omit the garlic from the mayo and the fresh shallot when assembling the taco and make sure you use gluten free FODMAP friendly tacos' or wraps.