Jackfruit sandwiches

Jackfruit (young in brine) has been all over the vegan blogsphere over the last couple of years, mainly recipes for Mexican-style shredded meat sandwiches. I'm always happy to try something new and vegan, especially when I can find it for under €2 in the Asian market.

Here is what it looks like in the tin, cut up into chunks. To prepare for sandwiches, cut it up further and pull the stringy bits apart with your fingers. Here is a good basic guide from 'Bake and Destroy'. There are massive seeds in them, which look like beans in garlic cloves. These are edible, apparently, but I chose to leave them out.

Here is the shredded, squeezed and de-seeded jackfruit. I had read that jackfruit is bland and soaks up a marinade, like tofu or tempeh, so I decided that rather than following a recipe I would just cook it in my favourite sauces, spices and stock. I simmered it in a pan with sautéed onions, vegetable stock (just enough to cover the jackfruit), soya sauce, vegan oyster sauce, Marmite, smoked paprika and garlic powder for about 20 minutes (simmering time based on other recipes).
Needless to say it ended up being quite salty and strongly flavoured!

On a piece of wholemeal pita bread with houmous and avocado.
The texture is quite soft, not as hearty as tofu or tempeh but nicely tender and light.