Corned jackfruit, grated potatoes, onion, bell pepper, and a little parsley. This dish is both delicious and filling, making it a perfect vegan breakfast!
A couple weeks ago my son, Justice, suggested I add some more breakfast choices on the blog. I make a big brunch on Sundays, and I think that’s something he loves. Anywho, the breakfast thing has been sitting in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now. I started kicking around the idea of doing some sort of hash. Then the other day I posted a couple pictures of some jackfruit carnitas I made, and you know what? People LOVE jackfruit! So, I decided, maybe I need to create a new recipe with it, and here you have it… Vegan Jack’ Hash!
For St. Patty’s Day I always make tempeh corned “beef,” and I really enjoy it. Because of that, I had some grasp of what I’d be doing with the jackfruit.
The first step with jackfruit is to always prepare the fruit itself. Actually, I’m going to take that back — the first step is finding the jackfruit. People ask me all the time me where to buy it. Buying canned jackfruit in water is always hardest to find. For this recipe, jackfruit in brine is fine.
My go-to spot for canned jackfruit is Trader Joe’s. I was incredibly happy when they started carrying it. I can also find it in Asian markets sometimes. If you don’t have either of these in your area, it can also be found online, which I have done as well. Always be sure to buy green, or young, jackfruit in water or brine. You will not want it ripe, which usually comes in a syrup. That will not have the right flavor or consistency for savory recipes.
OK, so after finding the jackfruit, it’s important to know how to get it prepped. Drain the cans and rinse the fruit well. Now you need to inspect each piece for seeds and remove them when found. If there are some which you have missed that isn’t a big deal. Usually they’ll be found later when the jackfruit is in the skillet, and you can remove them then. Eating one or two won’t ruin the recipe either. The seeds are soft with a similar flavor to the rest of the fruit.
After removing the seeds, cut off the hard triangular pieces at the end of each individual piece, or on the pieces in which this applies. This may not be necessary for every piece. It all depends on how they were originally trimmed before canning. The pieces you’ve removed can now be discarded.
Now that the jackfruit is prepared for using, you can start the marinade. First, I made the pickling spice blend. I took allspice berries, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, cloves, peppercorns, and cardamon pods and placed them in a hot skillet for dry roasting. I did this until my mustard seeds began to pop. Then you can transfer it all to a mortar, add a broken up bay leaf, and grind it all with the pestle. Once all is ground, stir in the powdered ginger.
After making the spice blend, you will dissolve some beef flavored vegetable broth into hot water and whisk in the spice blend, beet juice, maple syrup, tamari (or soy sauce), and a little apple cider vinegar. Place this in an 8×8 baking dish with half a cinnamon stick and all the jackfruit. Stir the jackfruit well into the marinade and then let it sit for at least two hours (or marinate in the fridge the night before using) and stir up the jackfruit periodically.
When ready to start cooking, you will add the jackfruit with all of its marinade to a skillet warmed to medium heat. After adding the jackfruit, cover with a lid and turn heat down to maintain a high simmer (about medium-low heat). Leave the jackfruit to simmer for 20 minutes.
In a separate, large skillet, heated to medium heat, melt some vegan butter and add onion and bell pepper. Sauté for two minutes before adding garlic and then sauté again for another minute or so. Next you will add shredded potatoes and two more tablespoons of vegan butter, cover the skillet, and turn it down to low heat. After five minutes, remove the lid, stir the potatoes, replace lid and leave for another five minutes.
After 10 minutes your potatoes should be soft. You will now add the jackfruit to your potato skillet, but only the jackfruit, NOT the marinade! Just carefully use tongs to remove the fruit, rather than dumping all the contents of the skillet into the other. With the jackfruit, stir in salt, pepper, paprika, and fresh parsley. Using the back of a spatula, press the hash down flat. Leave without stirring for five minutes, flip the hash, press one more time, and leave again for five additional minutes.
Now, unless you like it crispier, like I know some people do, your hash is ready to serve. I served ours with Follow Your Heart VeganEggs, sourdough or gluten free toast, and fresh tomato slices on top of spinach. Instead of VeganEgg you can make a tofu or chickpea scramble, or serve it on its own, because it’s delicious!
Last night we had some friends over and I shared the left overs with the three of them, all omnivorous. They ate it up! Vegan made and omni approved yet again! If you enjoy this hash like we do, leave a comment down below, and please take a pic and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis!
Vegan Jack' Hash
Ingredients
- 2 20 oz cans green/young jackfruit, in brine or water. Drained, rinsed, and seeds removed.
- 5 cups russet potato, peeled & grated (~5 small)
- 3/4 cup yellow onion, diced (~1 small)
- 1/2 bell pepper, diced (I used red)
- 4 Tbsp vegan butter ensure nut-free if necessary
- 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (Plus more for serving, if desired)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste (I added more when eating)
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- beef flavored vegetable bullion, enough for 2 cups bullion — though we will only be making 1 cup. I use Not-Beef cubes by Edward & Sons.
- 1/4 cup 100% beet juice
- 1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp Tamari, gluten free (or regular soy sauce if not gluten free)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (yellow or brown are fine)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp red peper flakes
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 4 cardamon pods
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 stick cinnamon
Instructions
- Trim off any hard, triangular pieces at the end of jackfruit chunks and discard.
- Toast allspice berries, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, cloves, peppercorns, and cardamon pods in a skillet over medium heat. Toast dry, do not use any oil. When mustard seeds begin to pop, remove from heat.
- Crumble the bay leaf and add it to the toasted spices. Grind this mixture using a mortar and pestle. Add ginger powder and stir.
- Dissolve bullion (enough for 2 cups broth) in 1 cup hot water. Whisk this together with the beet juice, maple syrup, tamari, apple cider vinegar, and your spice blend. Transfer the marinade to an 8x8 baking dish (or similar sized dish) and add the cinnamon stick and the jackfruit. Stir and let marinate for 2 hours or overnight. Stir the jackfruit periodically while it marinates.
- Heat a skillet to medium heat, add jackfruit with marinade. Cover with lid, and turn down heat enough to maintain a high simmer (about med-low). Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- In a separate, large skillet, over medium heat melt half the vegan butter. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute more, or until onions are translucent.
- Add the potatoes and the remaining butter to the skillet with the onion and bell pepper. Cover skillet and turn heat to low. After 5 minutes, remove lid and stir. Replace lid and let cook another 5 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
- Take two forks and shred the jackfruit. If there are any chunkier pieces which don't shred, use the back of the fork and smash them. Using tongs, carefully transfer the jackfruit (but NOT the remaining marinade) to the skillet with your potatoes.
- Add salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley to the skillet. Stir well, taste, and add more salt if needed. Press flat into the skillet with the back of a spatula. Let cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
- Flip hash over, then press and flatten again with the back of your spatula. Let cook another 5 minutes undisturbed, or until preferred darkness. Serve topped with fresh, chopped parsley, if desired.
This looks great… now I’m hungry for breakfast!