Langka/Jackfruit


Langka/Jackfruit
Artocarpus Heterophyllus

Langka or Jackfruit is considered the biggest fruit in the fruit kingdom. It can weigh up to 80 lbs. about 36 kg. with a diameter of 20 inches and 36 inches in length. The skin of jackfruit is prickly just like the breadfruit and durian.

Jackfruit is believed to have originated from India in the Kerala region, but is now widely cultivated in Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and also Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

I remember when I was growing up, my grandmother has a big jackfruit tree full of fruits that some are reaching the ground. Whenever we pick and cut a ripe jackfruit, they call it like butchering a pig because it almost weigh like a pig. The smell of a ripe jackfruit is intoxicating. I love it and so are the flies. Anyway, we remove the segments from the sheaths and each has seed inside. The seeds can be boiled and eaten as snacks like nuts. We eat the jackfruit raw and fresh but we also used it in various recipes for desserts like halo-halo, bilo-bilo, and banana lumpia.

The unripe jackfruit is also used as vegetable and cooked with coconut milk and spiced with hot peppers we call “siling labuyo”. The seasoning would be “bagoong alamang” or shrimp paste.

Jackfruit in the can is widely available so I used that instead of the fresh one if it’s not in season.

Dried jackfruit is also sold now as chips. They are really good.

Jackfruit is also nutritious. It contains Vit. A and C, and minerals like calcium, potassium, iron and sodium.
The seeds which taste like chestnuts when boiled or broiled have also nutritional benefits. It has complex carbohydrates, Vit. A and C and also B vitamins and minerals like calcium, zinc and phosphorous. It also contains lignans, isoflavones and saponins which are phytonutrients acting as anti-oxidants, anti-cancer and best of all, anti-ageing. I better eat more of these Jackfruit.