lunes, 12 de octubre de 2009

BREADFRUIT: weird & wonderful

Breadfruit is a new food to me. that is to say, it's not big in Virginia (although as fruits go, is it ever!) We are fortunate to have two gigantic breadfruit trees on the farm and right now, they are producing like mad.
I have been pretty intimidated by this ostrich egg of a fruit, from its green iguana-like skin to its spongy mushroomy insides.
I was encouraged by Ancel over at Island Farm , who has impressive tropical fruit knowledge and claims a fondness for the bizarre but beautiful fruta de pan.

Attempt #1: Rolling up my sleeves, I approached the monstrous carbohydrate ball that would become dinner.
My recipe was simple: boil, stuff, bake.
After 15 minutes or so in a pot of boiling water, I removed the breadfruit and attempted to excavate the soft flesh. I was met with more resistance than expected, i don't think it was tender enough. Nevertheless, i diced the softer pieces and mixed them with chopped onions, carrots, and tofu cubes, then re-filled the breadfruit halves and drizzled with olive oil.
My hope was for edible baked boats, but though the filling was scrumptious, the inside of the breadfruit never tenderized enough.

Attempt #2 was more successful. After harvesting, it takes only a few days for breadfruit to soften; there's a fine line between ripe and rotten. I was lucky to catch this one at the perfect moment for a dessert.
It was easy to scoop the sticky sweet flesh out this time. I tossed it in a saucepan with milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar to create a creamy delicious tropical treat!

The hands down favorite style in this casa is pan-fried slices, breadfruit's incarnation of the french fry.
Crispy yet.....bready.

Next up I am excited to try a recipe for breadfruit pizza dough! that i found here. Tropical culinary adventures, keep 'em coming!

6 comentarios:

Scott & Liz dijo...

I've only had Breadfruit baked as in baked potato...loved it. Those f\French fries look like the way to go.
Scott

Bangchik and Kakdah dijo...

We call these breadfruits as "sukun" in Malaysia. A tree will bear fruits in hundreds. We always fry them in thin slices. Such a lovely taste! ~bangchik

islandgal246 dijo...

We use breadfruit for chips,creamed and pickled. To prepare it to cook, you have to core it and peel it. Remove the spongy membrane inside and remove the peel with a sharp knife. You can then boil it as you would potatoes.

Pickled Breadfruit Instructions:

Peel the breadfruit, cut out the core and cut into thick slices. Wash.Put breadfruit in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until breadfruit is tender. Meanwhile, mix lime juice with onion and salt and pepper. Drain breadfruit and cut into thin slices.Place on a platter and spoon pickle over. Serve hot with salted fish or meat.

Live Simply Love Strongly dijo...

Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. I am a mother of 1, married to a Central American who is trying to live more sustainably. We hope to move to Central America in the next 5 years. Your blog is great! I have one too if you are interested. You might like a blog I follow called Simple-Green-Frugal Coop, it's on my sidebar. There are a lot of different writers, living all over the world (some in Australia, which may have a similar climate to yours?). They blog about gardening, waste reduction, making stuff at home, etc. I have got a lot of useful info there!

Sylvana dijo...

A Great intro to breadfruit. I have always been curious about it. Does it really taste like bread? Or more like potatoes? Either sounds good to me!

Tira dijo...

Thanks for visiting my blog. I love breadfruit-you can prepare it anyway you do potato-like breadfruit salad, mashed and layered with cheese for breadfruit pie etc.. You need to peel, cut out core and in chunks and boil in water first.