One of my favourite recipes while working in a pan-Asian restaurant was a crispy duck and watermelon salad. It was so popular that it still sits on the menu. With my blog being a plant-forward recipe blog, I had to make a vegan version of it. I have gone to town with the flavours in this salad. I am using jackfruit instead of duck, but the rest of the process remains the same and let me tell you, it's as delicious. Young, green jackfruit is such a good meat substitute when making vegan versions of dishes. It readily takes on flavours and has a substantial texture. You have got to try this, even if you are not vegan.
Jackfruit is a tropical fruit cultivated widely in Southern India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is the world's largest tree-born fruit. Inside the huge, knobbly pod is numerous yellow bulbs of the fruit flesh. The fleshy parts can be purchased ready and prepared in cans and is a much easier option than preparing the fruit from scratch. HereIn the UK and US, Jackfruit is imported and can be found in Asian-specific markets and food halls. For this recipe, you want the young green jackfruit in a tin, not the ripe, sweet jackfruit used as a dessert.
Also, check out my Bengali-style jackfruit curry.
If the Asian flavours of this recipe inspires you then also give my vegan lettuce wraps (San Choy Bao) a try.
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Ingredients For Vegan "Duck" and Watermelon Salad
For some of the more unusual ingredients, try an Asian food-specific store or market if you can't find them in larger supermarkets.
- Young, green jackfruit - canned
- Watermelon
- Mint leaves
- Coriander leaves
- Spring onion
- Cashew nuts
- Hoisin sauce
The Marinade
- Salt
- Lemon grass - Finely chopped
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Kaffir lime leaves - finely chopped
- Sichuan pepper
- Black peppercorn
- Coriander seeds
- Yellow mustard seeds
- Star anise
- cinnamon powder
- Chinese five-spice powder
- Green cardamom
Sweet Vegan "Fish Sauce"
- Palm sugar
- Water
- Banana shallot
- Lemon grass - whole
- Kaffir lime leaves - whole
- Tamarind water from 10gms of Tamarind
- Vegetarian fish sauce - I use "ThaiTaste" vegetarian fish sauce from Waitrose in the UK.
See the recipe card for quantities
Instructions
First, wash and pat dry your fresh herbs.
Making The Marinade & Vegetarian "Fish" Sauce
For the marinade, remove the seeds from the cardamom and, together with the Sichuan pepper, black peppercorns, yellow mustard leaves, coriander seeds, and star anise, grind to a powder. Add the cinnamon powder and Chinese five spice powder to this spice mix.
Peel one lemon grass stalk and finely chop the soft inner part. Remove the stem from the kaffir lime leaves and finely chop. Set aside the outer peel of the lemon grass to use in the vegetarian fish sauce.
Grate the garlic and ginger using a microplane or similar equipment.
Mix the ground spices, chopped lemon grass, chopped kaffir lime leaves, grated garlic, grated ginger, and salt to complete the marinade.
Drain the canned jackfruit and thoroughly coat with the marinade.
Place the marinated jackfruit onto a silicone mat or parchment paper and place it in a baking tray. Tear into small bite-sized chunks.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC and cook the jackfruit for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove from the oven and add two tablespoons of the hoisin sauce to the jackfruit chunks. Coat all the pieces of jackfruit and cook for a further 10 minutes.
At the same time, roast the cashew nuts until golden brown.
For the vegetarian "fish" sauce, first, place ten gms of tamarind into 50ml of boiled water. Let it soften and then squeeze out the tamarind water and pass it through a sieve.
Then in a saucepan, add 75ml of water, the tamarind water, the palm sugar cut into small pieces, the shallot sliced, vegetarian fish sauce, outer leaves of the lemon grass and a kaffir lime leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer until a syrupy consistency. Leave to infuse while you assemble the salad—strain when ready to use.
Assemble The Salad
- Finely julienne the spring onion at an angle (see the ingredients photograph)
- Pick the coriander and mint leaves.
- Cut the watermelon into small bite-sized cubes.
- Mix one tablespoon of hoisin sauce through the cooked jackfruit.
- In a separate bowl, add the herbs, spring onion, watermelon cubes and cashews, then add the strained sweet vegetarian 'fish' sauce and mix.
- Add the cooked jackfruit to this bowl, mix and serve immediately.
How-To Video
Here is a video guide to making vegan "duck" and watermelon salad.
Substitutions
If you are not vegan/vegetarian, you can replace the vegetarian fish sauce with regular fish sauce.
Variations
The original recipe is with duck, so you can use duck meat if you are not vegan. Duck legs are cooked in the confit method and then made into smaller pieces and put back in the oven to make crispy.
Equipment
As always, I recommend using digital scales for measurement.
I prefer using silicone mats in the oven as they are reusable, and nothing gets stuck.
I recommend investing in a microplane. This piece of equipment is excellent for fine grating, as required for the ginger and garlic in this recipe.
Storage
This salad does not keep well once mixed. Eat immediately, or it will become soggy.
The jackfruit can be cooked in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge.
The sweet 'fish' sauce can be made in advance and will keep in the fridge in a clean, airtight container for a week.
📖 Recipe
Vegan "Duck" and Watermelon Salad Made With Jackfruit
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Silicone mat or parchment paper
- Micropane
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 565 gms Jackfruit Drained weight 280 gms
- 300 gms Watermelon
- 20 gms Coriander leaves
- 15 gms Mint leaves
- 75 gms Spring onion
- 50 gms Cashews
- 3 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
Marinade
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 stick Lemon grass
- 1 clove Garlic
- 10 gms Ginger
- 2 Kaffir Lime leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Sichuan pepper
- 6 Black peppercorn
- ¼ teaspoon Coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Yellow Mustard seeds
- ½ Star anise
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 Green cardamom
Sweet 'Fish' Sauce
- 30 gms Palm sugar
- 75 ml Water
- 18 gms Banana shallots
- Lemon grass outer leaves saved from the marinade
- 1 Kaffir Lime leaf
- 40 ml Tamarind water From 10 gms Taramind, soaked in 50 ml boiling water
- 20 ml Vegan fish sauce "ThaiTaste" brand or similar
Instructions
- Wash the herbs and set them aside to dry.
Marinade For The Jackfruit
- Remove the seeds from the cardamom and add to the rest of the spices and grind into a powder. Mix these ground spices with the cinnamon powder and Chinese five-spice powder.
- Remove the outer leaves of lemon grass and set them aside to use in the vegan fish sauce. Finely chop the soft part of lemon grass (about halfway).
- Remove the stem from the kaffir lime leaves and finely chop.
- Grate the ginger and garlic
- Mix the ground spices with the ginger, garlic, chopped lemongrass, lime leaves and salt.
- Drain the jackfruit into a bowl and thoroughly coat with the marinade.
- Transfer the jackfruit onto a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Break larger chunks of jackfruit into smaller bite size pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- Cook the jackfruit for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven and mix in two tablespoon of hoisin sauce and cook for another 10 mins, until crispy.
- While the jackfruit is cooking in the oven, roast the cashews at the same time for five minutes or so until golden brown.
Vegetarian Sweet 'Fish' Sauce
- Add 10 gms of tamarind to 50 ml of boiling water in a bowl. Allow the tamarind to soften. Once soft, press the pulp out and strain off the tamarind water.
- In a pan, add water, chopped down palm sugar, the tamarind water, the vegetarian 'fish' sauce, the sliced banana shallot, the outer leaves of the lemongrass and the lime leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer until syrupy.
- Leave to infuse while you get everything else ready.
- Strain when ready to use.
Assemble The Salad
- Finely julienne the spring onion at an angle.
- Pick the coriander and mint leaves.
- Cut the watermelon into small bite-sized cubes.
- Mix one tablespoon of hoisin sauce through the cooked jackfruit.
- In a separate bowl add the herbs, spring onion, watermelon cubes and roasted cashews. Then add the strained sweet 'fish' sauce and mix.
- Add the cooked jackfruit to this bowl, mix and serve immediately.
Food Safety
In a professional kitchen, food hygiene and safety are a top priority, and from the beginning of training, I practised good habits and routines. Of course, it is also very important to practice good food hygiene and safety at home. Here are some fundamental practices to adopt in the kitchen.
- Wash your hands regularly while preparing, handling and cooking food
- Wipe down countertops and high contact points regularly
- If you cook meat and fish, do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat. Use separate chopping boards for meat and fish. Wash your chopping boards immediately after use.
- Thoroughly cook food to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods (more than 2 hours)
- Store food correctly
For more details on food hygiene and safety in the home, visit the UK Government's Food Standards Agency webpage.
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