40mlTamarind waterFrom 10 gms Taramind, soaked in 50 ml boiling water
20mlVegan 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.