Sweet and Sour Jackfruit
Crispy, meaty jackfruit tossed with some pineapples, peppers and a tangy sweet and sour sauce. We've made your favourite Chinese fakeaway even better by making it entirely plant-based!
Serves
Ingredients
For the sweet and sour sauce
<item-todo-done>3 ½ tbsp rice vinegar<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 tbsp brown sugar<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tbsp toasted sesame oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tbsp cornflour<item-todo-done>
For the stir-fry
<item-todo-done> The juice of 1 x 400g can of tinned pineapple<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 red onion<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp onion powder<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tbsp ketchup<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 inches of ginger<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp garlic powder<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> vegetable oil for frying<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tbsp water<item-todo-done>
For the crispy jackfruit
<item-todo-done>1 400g tin of pineapple<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 green pepper<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>125g cornflour<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp Chinese 5 spice<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>130ml water<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 x 400g can(s) of jackfruit<item-todo-done>
To serve
<item-todo-done> reserved spring onion slices<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> pinch of sesame seeds<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>250g basmati rice cooked - or 1x 250g bag of microwaveable rice<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 spring onion<item-todo-done>
Before you start
Frying pan | Wok | Kitchen paper | Saucepan (if cooking rice from scratch) | 2 medium bowls | Sieve
Make your sweet and sour sauce
- Strain the pineapple from the tin, and add the juice and remaining sauce ingredients into a bowl
- Mix well to combine until the sugar is dissolved
Prep your veg and rice
- Chop the strained pineapple into large bite-size chunks
- Deseed and chop the pepper into large bite-size chunks
- Peel and chop the red onion into large bite-size chunks
- Peel and rough chop the ginger
- Finely slice the spring onion (keep aside as a final garnish)
- Cook rice according to package instructions
**Make the crispy jackfruit coating **
- Drain the jackfruit from the tin and halve any particularly large pieces so everything is roughly the same size
- In a bowl, mix together the cornflour, Chinese five spice, onion and garlic powder and water | Mix together until it forms a thick-ish creamy consistency
- Stir in the larger chunks of jackfruit until it’s all well coated (discard any really thin stringy bits)
**Fry your jackfruit **
- Heat the frying pan with enough vegetable oil to coat the base of the frying pan by around 2cm, over medium heat
- Add the coated jackfruit pieces with a bit of the batter poured over, and fry until crispy
- Keep mixing the batter in the pan around the jackfruit every so often, so that it coats all the jackfruit pieces as they crisp up
- Set aside on kitchen paper to drain excess oil
**Finish your stir-fry **
- Heat your sesame oil over a wok on medium-high heat
- Add the red onion, ginger, green pepper and fry until softened
- Add the sweet and sour sauce, and stir well to coat all the vegetables
- Add the pineapple chunks
- Stir and simmer the sauce until it makes a delicious sticky sauce
- Add the fried jackfruit and toss in the sauce to coat
- Serve immediately with rice and garnish with the sliced spring onions and sesame seeds