It's Large and Spiky, So Let's Eat It?

It may be large and spiky but don’t be fearful of using jackfruit in your next meal. “It’s something I grew up eating,” says Bac Nguyen, chef and owner of Tremont’s Bac Asian American Bistro & Bar and Uptown’s Ninja City. “The most common use of jackfruit in Vietnamese cuisine is eating it as fruit or using unripened jackfruit as a salad.” The Southeast Asian fruit is also a great substitute for meat when ripened and can also be used as a base for homemade ice cream or other desserts to keep things sweet. Nguyen recommends making a jackfruit slaw. Start by shredding the fruit and then pickling it with carrots. Before serving, add fish sauce, garlic and fresh herbs such as Thai basil, cilantro and mint. The finishing touch? “Crushed peanuts on top,” he says.