Pulled pork is so damn trendy. So trendy I didn’t want to make it. The fruit-as-meat trend on the other hand, is exactly the kind of kitchen geekery I will happily lose days to. Plus jackfruit is the craziest, most amazing thing.

As I’ve never really been into American food, I’m yet to master my own BBQ sauce so this recipe uses a pre-made one. On the plus side, it makes this dish mad easy to make.

Today my little sister and I both had a day off, the weather was unseasonably warm, and I happened to have a tin of the magic fruit in the cupboard so we cracked a couple of booze-free beers (my favourite new discovery as a pregnant woman) and made some pulled jackfruit sliders.

*In NZ it’s super hard to find fresh jackfruit so this recipe uses tinned jackfruit. Jackfruit in brine or water is fine, just don’t buy jackfruit in syrup. It’s available from most Asian and Indian supermarkets.

*Usually I would add some liquid smoke to this so if you have some use it and leave out the smoked paprika. Today I had no liquid smoke and there was still plenty of depth.

Vegan Pulled ‘Pork’ (otherwise known as Pulled BBQ Jackfruit)

1x 280g can of jackfruit

1/2 brown onion, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chilli powder (or 1/2 fresh chilli finely chopped)

1 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

pinch of white pepper

1 cup of vegetable stock (or vegetarian beef stock such as Massells)

3/4 cup of BBQ sauce (find a good quality one)

Rinse jackfruit well. Chop the hearts out (but don’t discard if they’re reasonably soft) and remove the seeds. Cut jackfruit into bite-sized chucks and finely dice the hearts. Set aside.

Add some oil to a medium hot frying pan and cook off onions until soft and taking a little colour. Add garlic, spices, sugar, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add jackfruit and cook until coated and the whole thing smells great. Then add stock, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the water has evaporated. Use a fork or spatula to crush and separate the jackfruit until it resembles pulled pork.

Preheat an oven to 190 degrees C.

Spread the jackfruit evenly on an oven tray (I coat the tray in tin foil to save clean up) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Take the jackfruit out of the oven, pour over your BBQ sauce and mix until the jackfruit is well covered. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until sticky and a little crispy around the edges.

Serve in soft, white buns or chopped baguette with a simple green salad or coleslaw and a spread of Dijon mustard. If you’re gluten free, wrap it up in a corn tortilla.

Bon ap!