Malaysia and a whole other lot of Southeast Asian countries are home to many delicious, tropical native fruits, including indigenous ones like the cempedak, durian, pomelo, rambutan and more. Like our King of Fruits, a.k.a. the durian, many of these fruits are likely to taste exotic for many foreigners.. but surely none of them taste like pork, as pointed out by U.K.’s Independent about the humble jackfruit.
In a recently published article entitled “This Exotic Fruit Tastes Like Pork And It Could Save Millions From Starvation”, the author writes about the unique fruit and its penetrating smell, adding that its seeds, together with the leathery flesh, are rich in protein, potassium, calcium and iron. She goes on to discuss the versatile functionality of the jackfruit tree as even its bark, seeds and latex, aside from the lobes of flesh, are valuable.
Though it is true that the jackfruit tastes good in many ways, whether fried as chips, stir fried, eaten ripe, or cooked in a curry, the author also suggests that the jackfruit tastes like pulled pork. This bizarre revelation led us to look the fruit up on Google, and indeed, there are legions of other articles from credible publications claiming the same thing.
While the crisp yet fibrous flesh of the jackfruit that wraps around oval-shaped seeds does resemble the texture of pulled pork, the taste however is nothing like meat whatsoever. Its sweet, aromatic flavour is incomparable to other more notable fruits, although we understand that vegans are using it as a meat replacement by cooking the fruit in a savoury manner.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that the jackfruit (or nangka) tastes like pork?
