Vegan Pulled Poke (Pulled Pork, but Not Really)
Vegan Pulled Pork Recipe
This is the business y’all! I’m calling it “pulled poke” in honor of my grandfather, because that is how he pronounced “pork”. The things we remember about our ancestors.
Anyway, I was really seriously wanting something that had the pulled pork texture, flavor and taste because of one thing that happened recently. Here at The Compound the owner holds a pig roast twice a year, something he’s been doing for the past 40 years.
Though I’ve been to at least 10 of them, I’ve yet to taste the pig! Usually I brought other dishes like shrimp jambalaya, sweet potato pies, potato salad, pasta or fruit salad, etc. Regardless, it’s always a fun party and a great mix of interesting of people. This year we even had live music with a vocalist from New Orleans!
Since I was in charge of the menu, I made sure we had lots and lots of vegan and vegetarian options to eat, and people LOVED everything. Vegan, vegetarian and omni alike descended on this place like locusts and ate everything in sight. I debuted my experimental fresh apricot bars at the party, and they were a huge hit!
So by the time the pig was ready, most people were already pretty stuffed, so there were a lot of leftovers. The meat eaters made a tasty batch of pulled pork from my old recipe. Looking at them chow down made me want some – not talking about pig, but something that had the same rich hearty stick to your ribs feeling, the same color, the same smell, and the same deliciously spicy barbecue flavor.
Voila! Here I present vegan pulled pork.
The interesting thing is that it’s made with something called jack fruit. Those who travel to the Caribbean, India, Latin America and Asia can get it fresh. For my purposes, I hoofed it on over to the big Asian grocery store in our area and bought two cans of jackfruit – one was Young Green packed in brine, the other was ripe jackfruit packed in water. I was trying an experimental version of the vegan pulled pork by mixing the two, but decided I prefer using all young green. Oh, and remember, if you buy your jackfruit in brine, you’ll need to wash it and squeeze out the salty water several times before using it in your recipe. Best to get it packed in water if you can find it.
The ingredients laid out on my cutting board
Onions are optional, but if you use them you want short, thin strips like this for texture, or minced if you want a smoother appearance.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil
Add the jackfruit and brown lightly on both sides. For faster cooking, cut each wedge of jackfruit into thirds like you would a pizza. This breaks up the hard core and gets the meal ready a lot quicker. But if you’re leaving for work or whatever and will be gone for 8 hours, just throw it in the pan whole like I did.
Put in crock pot, add BBQ sauce, stir and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 8-9 hours.
The power and heat of crock pots varies greatly, so stir your vegan pulled pork mixture about every 30 minutes and test it for tenderness. Add more water or BBQ sauce if needed. Cook until vegan pulled pork is tender and separates easily with a fork into strands.
Another thing to consider – the taste of your vegan pulled pork will depend upon the BBQ sauce you use. I usually make my own, but this time I was lazy and used a bottle of organic barbecue sauce from Costco, mixed with some Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce which is all we had in the fridge. That combination was actually quite delicious. Enjoy!
- 2 20-oz cans of Young Green Jackfruit (packed in brine or water)
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
- ¼ yellow onion, sliced thin then cut in half or minced
- 1-2 Tablespoons avocado or sunflower oil
- ½ tsp seasoning salt (I used Slap Ya Mama)
- ¼ tsp ground black or cayenne pepper
- 1-1/4 cups favorite BBQ sauce
- Rolls or buns
- Pour jackfruit into colander and drain. Rinse thoroughly, gently squeezing the jackfruit in small batches. Do this several times to remove the canned water and/or brine solution.
- Pick over the jackfruit and slice the wedges into thirds or break apart gently if preferable.
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium and saute the onions for about 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and jackfruit and cook another 3-4 minutes, turning jackfruit to lightly brown on both sides. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and black pepper.
- Transfer contents of skillet to crock pot, then pour on your BBQ sauce. Stir to mix well. Add up to 1 cup water if needed.
- Cover crockpot and cook over high for about 3 hours, checking and stirring every so often; add a few Tablespoons of water if required.
- When done and jackfruit shreds easily, take it out of the crockpot and shred with two forks. Return to unplugged crockpot and let sit, covered, for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld. Add additional salt or pepper to taste.
- Serve on rolls or buns, with a side of cole slaw or potato salad
Category: Entrees, Light Meals
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Thanks for the recipe Deborrah Cooper. The Jackfruit was a great success, I will definitely make it again, my family loved it!
Thanks for the great recipe. I have not eaten pork in decades, and my husband and I have been observing a vegetarian lifestyle for only 11 months, so we still like to occasionally have barbeque. This was a delicious and tender vegetarian option. Although initially skeptical, especially after seeing the jackfruit prior to cooking, I have made this dish twice and both times, it was well received by my husband. I love that it requires just a few ingredients and a short amount of preparation and cooking time. Amazingly, after the shredding the jackfruit looks just like a “pulled” pork! This recipe will be a routine one for my family!