Pulled Jackfruit Barbacoa Sandwich

Pulled Jackfruit Barbacoa Sandwich

I have been a vegetarian for over 25 years and have never heard of jackfruit, let alone using it as a meat substitute. So the other day my daughter Jess and I went to SLC to get her eyes checked. We decided to try this little vegan place that we heard about called Buds. I had the barbacoa sandwich and it was amazing. So, yeah....I had to try to do this at home, and here is what I did...

First, I learned that when you use jackfruit as a meat substitute, you can use fresh green jackfruit (I have no idea where to find that) or you can get it in a can. BUT. Do not get the jackfruit in syrup....it needs to be the young green jackfruit packed in brine. 

Looks like this:

Found it at the 1st Oriental Market downtown. 

One can will make 2 or 3 sandwiches.

Rinse the brine off the jackfruit...

Then squish it a little between your palms to remove the excess water.

Next, in a pan saute a big clove of garlic per can of jack fruit.

Add a teaspoon of Better Than Bullion vegetable broth paste and stir. 

Next throw in the rinsed jackfruit.

saute for a few minutes.

add some Braggs (be generous)

now for the dry spices:

(sorry....I did not measure, but I did coat the jackfruit pretty well...like a bbq dry rub)

smoked paprika

cumin

salt 

pepper

red pepper flakes 

oregano

The jack fruit will start to resemble shredded meat. It should get to the point that it is fork tender. 

next I added a bit more Braggs (you could also go with soy sauce here, but I just like Braggs so much better)

add some of your favorite bbq sauce, or if you have a killer bbq sauce recipe you like, use that.

squirt in some yellow mustard.

Sriracha! 

(careful! hot! Add according to taste...I love it HOT!)

Mix, and let it simmer for a few minutes.

At this point I transfered it to my slow cooker and put it on low for a couple of hours. The flavors do magic stuff if you give them some time. 

While the jackfruit barbacoa was slow cooking away, I made a quick ginger yogurt sauce:

2 parts plain greek yogurt

1 part vegenaise (vegan mayo)

A bunch of freshly grated ginger

Mix.

Let it sit in the fridge until you are ready to put together the sandwich.

I found lovely ciabatta buns at the local market 

and toasted them.

Spread on the ginger yogurt spread.

Add a handful of very finely shredded green cabbage.

so yum.