Charred Breadfruit
Now I know that I would survive on a South Pacific island abundant with breadfruit if my crew set me adrift a la Captain Bligh, though I would have to deal with the motion sickness bobbing about on the open seas first! Take a mature/ripe breadfruit, earlier post on it here, and throw it onto an open fire and wait for it to char black all over. After a few minutes, carefully cut into the breadfruit and eat its fleshy pulp steamed in its own juices…
Frankly, it was reminiscent of very tasteless kamote. Or perhaps fluffy potatoes. Actually, it didn’t have much taste at all. And the texture wasn’t even all that appealing. So I am guessing this is an acquired taste… When I was a kid, I have near nightmare like memories of eating tons of fried breadfruit with latik during summer visits to relatives in Bohol. And fried breadfruit served with latik is actually quite appealing compared to this warm blob of charred breadfruit!
But at least now you know. If there is nothing else to eat, you can probably survive by charring a breadfruit. So there. :) But trying to find the silver lining to charred breadfruit, I suspect this would be a lot better if you treated it a bit like a baked potato, and you topped the starchy base with say bacon, cheese, chillies, etc…
I can’t remember how this fruit taste, or vegetables? Kasi gina-gataan ito ng mga pinsan ko and eat it with rice. Or serve it with little sugar and have it with merienda (sometimes mashed it with grilled or boiled green saba).
August 27th, 2008i love the fried bread fruit then dipped in sugar
August 27th, 2008My only memory (childhood) of eating breadfruit was fried with latik…..I can’t seem to remember distinctive taste. I only remember the sweet taste of the latik!!!
August 27th, 2008I like it cooked like a banana-Q or Camote-Q, coated with caramerized sugar…
August 27th, 2008i once tried this coated in caramelized sugar…
August 27th, 2008We eat this a lot in Jamaica. The variety that tastes the best is what we call “yellow heart”. It’s served as the starch to accompany our national dish “ackee and saltfish” and also curried goat or jerk pork. Try frying it as well. After you’ve roasted it as above, peel it and core it, then slice it into thin wedges. Then fry the wedges until golden brown and crisp on the outside and sprinkle with salt. If you slice it really thin you basically make a chip; if you slice it thick you just add a different texture, some crunch.
August 28th, 2008Me neither but I guess marooned in a dessert island with no girl Friday to liven things up, one direly makes do with whatever is in the short menu and serving it with Jamaican savory dishes as Chinster above mentions would definitely give it a certain appeal. Incidentally, it was the same Captain Bligh who brought them a tree fruit from Africa called ackee which they serve with the salt cod dish. Splendid paring.
August 28th, 2008it’s been many years since i’ve had colo! i vaguely remember its taste at this point. i think the only way i’ve had it is caramelized on a stick like Nina said.
August 28th, 2008that’s how we called it, too, paoix—-colo..sliced like spam and fried..delicious!
August 28th, 2008I love breadfruit. If you get one that is just turning ripe, the flesh is sweet and really good baked this way also. When you bake even riper ones, the flesh becomes like a custard. The ripeness of the ones you have here make them good for dipping into thick, coconut-based soups and one of my favorite things is to dip it in lime and salt and eat with fish kelaguen (Guamanian style kilawen). It’s also really good for sopping up the sauce from pork or chicken adobo. Did I mention I love breadfruit? :-)
August 28th, 2008Ay yes, wonderful childhood memories of my mother’s deepfried colo served with latik. That was the only way we knew how to eat it, but you’ve presented so many new interesting options.
August 28th, 2008Looks like the shell of an armadillo!!!=)
is this the same as the fruit called NANGKA in Filipino?
Good day Market Man!=)
August 28th, 2008would anybody know where you can buy colo here in manila. i used to have it cebu often but couldn’t seem to find it here.:)
August 28th, 2008Can’t remember what it is called in Tagalog, “dalungyan” keeps coming up on my mind. But I remember breadfruit is good sweetened or candied (this I enjoy the most). We also cooked it with coconut milk and shrimp. Don’t remember seeing it in a ripe state though.
I love your site Marketman, certainly reminds me of younger days and the joys of comfort food.
Cheers,
August 28th, 2008Tastes like camote and fried like camote q too. In Tawi-Tawi, they call this Kilur.
August 28th, 2008In our house they make it into a sweet… quite good, healthy snack. Not much different from camoteque or bananaque.
August 28th, 2008where I am, it is dipped in batter mixed with a bit of salt, not sugar and deep fried. it’s nice and crunchy.
August 28th, 2008penoybalut, i think it’s called “rimas” in tagalog. my lola used to send us candied rimas - they were soft and chewy and sticky, and crunchy at the sugared edges. haven’t had candied breadfruit in a looong time.
MM, perhaps you could top that grilled rimas with some roquefort dressing and bacon bits?
August 28th, 2008millet, I like the cheese and bacon idea! For those that are curious, Kolo or Rimas differs from Kamansi or SEEDED breadfruit which also has a different skin. Lyna, yes, almost like chips if they are thin enough! jeune, I don’t see it often in Manila markets, but sometimes a few vendors carry it. AleXena, no, Nangka is Langka is Jackfruit. A relative of breadfruit but quite different. cumin, I spent days eating fried kolo and latik while visiting the relatives in bohol, at the time, I dreaded it because every house had it on offer… these days, I like it, but in small doses!
August 28th, 2008I’ve never seen nor tried this. Gotta look for it next time I’m in Cebu or Bohol. I’m excited about having tried a couple of new fruits recently, though: marang and balimbing from Davao. (I know, how could I have waited so long?!). I enjoyed the marang! I love discovering a new delicious treat. :-)
August 29th, 2008i remembere these rimas - always candied and the kamansi- ginataan like the unripe jackfruit, with shrimp or dried dilis
August 29th, 2008Marketman, thanks for the information that breadfruit is rimas in tagalog because when my Jamaican brother-in-law visited the Philippines he told me he saw a breadfruit tree on our way to the province and I had to ask him to describe the fruit to me. All the while I thought it was kamansi. Now, when the brod-in-law comes to visit I’ll know what to serve him..hehehe..
October 2nd, 2008