A Vegetarian Substitute Called Jackfruit

A Vegetarian Substitute Called Jackfruit That Is Perfect For Kidney Diets Hi there! It's Mathea Ford with Renal Diet HQ and today I want to talk about a vegetarian meat substitute called Jackfruit.  Although it's technically not a meat substitute because it doesn't have any protein.  I'm talking about vegetarian stuff this month because I think it's important for people with kidney failure.  I hear a lot of comments from people that they want to try vegetarian meals to improve their health. They want to go vegetarian or vegan knowing that there's a lower amount of protein needed in chronic kidney disease and it's easier to do with a vegetarian diet.  So I want to talk to you about this particular product because it's something that you can probably find locally and maybe even incorporate it into some meals. What is Jackfruit? If you've ever seen the BuzzFeed Tasty recipes videos that have a vegetarian slant to them you may have seen fruit from the jackfruit tree being used in those recipes. You might wonder where to buy jackfruit?  It's such a versatile fruit for use and you can find ripe jackfruit in the grocery store locally or you can buy Jack Fruit. .  Ripe jackfruit is a product that people can use and it's just a little different so you might be a little bit afraid of it.   I hope by the end of this training that you're going to have a better idea of what it actually is and what it's actually good for in a renal diet. It's a species of tree fruit in the fig mulberry breadfruit family. It was originally from India but it's grown in Southeast Asia, Indies, Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. It's actually even grown in the United States in Florida instead of importing it from Southeast Asia.  That's where a lot of the ripe jackfruit that's in grocery stores and available on Amazon, for example, is grown.  So, it grows in a lot of different places. It needs to be a little bit tropical which is why Florida works because the climate is similar to the region it came from. It's also found in Hawaii because that's a little bit of a tropical environment too. So, there are some places that can be found and purchased in the United States.  I wanted you to know that it's a very safe choice of product if you're buying from the United States growers because they're going to have been reviewed and managed by the FDA. What Does Jackfruit Taste Like? Jackfruit is a weird name but it is a fruit. It has a little bit of a sweet taste to it. If you eat it raw but in general in cooking it kind of has a bland taste.  A very neutral flavor and easy to use in recipes to make delicious meatless meals that are filling.  It will take over the flavor of the dish it's being used in - so BBQ Pulled Pork recipes can be converted to vegetarian and when you use unripe jackfruit it has a firm texture that lends itself to being a meat substitute.  The ripe fruit is sweeter and usually used in dessert type recipes, but the raw jackfruit that is unripe is most popular as a meat substitute. The fresh jackfruit can be 10 - 25 inches long (or longer) and about 5 inches wide.  When opened, it has many long individual fruits that are like seed pods, and those are what is edible.  The jackfruit seeds are what is taken from the raw fruit and made into dis...