Jackfruit, Sprouts, Fresh Herbs, Rice Cracker and Peanuts

Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad

  • Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad
  • Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad
  • Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad
  • Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad
    Hồng-Ân Trương, On minor histories and the horrifying recognition of the swift work of time (2016)
  • Hồng-Ân Trương’s Vegan Jackfruit Salad
    To Speak A Language Angle iron, found electric wires, public address speakers, metal boxes, found book, neon light, electrical components, amplifier, sound, 2012

NOTES

Jackfruit is an incredible addition to salad, but also often used as a meat substitute since it has a chewy, substantial texture. Look for it at the Asian grocer; you can’t miss it (it looks like a pre-historic tropical fruit/dinosaur hybrid). Nước chấm is basic Vietnamese dipping sauce or dressing, and should be a mix of salty and sweet. It has no oil and can be used liberally for salads, but also as a dipping sauce for fried spring rolls or poured over rice noodles. Rau răm is a beautiful aromatic herb worth growing yourself or buying at the Vietnamese market. It is one of my favorites, and used anywhere fresh herbs are found in Vietnamese cuisine. If you can’t find it, mint and cilantro will do, or add Thai basil for more punch. Bánh tráng mè are light, crispy rice crackers shaped like massive saucers. They are perfect edible spoons for this salad because they soak up the flavors of the dressing and herbs.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the nước chấm:  Finely chop the pineapple. Add to a small saucepan over low heat and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add ¾ cup water, the sugar, and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the lime juice, freshly chopped garlic, and ½ fined diced thai chili (optional) and mix together. Add more sugar if you want it a bit sweeter, or more soy sauce if you want it a bit saltier. Set aside.

2. Fry the shallots: Add 2 tablespoon of oil to a small saucepan over a high flame. As soon as the oil is warm, add half the shallots and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel and set aside. Repeat with remaining shallots, adding an additional 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan before frying.

3. Drain the canned jackfruit (if using) and remove all the seeds if any remain. Trim and discard any of the hard sections of the fruit. Tear the jackfruit into thin strips and transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water. Rinse all the jackfruit and use clean dishcloths to squeeze out all the excess water. Make sure to do this part well otherwise your salad will be mushy!

4. If using fresh jackfruit, oil your knife and your hands to avoid getting the fruit sap on your hands. Depending on how large the fruit is, cut into several large pieces widthwise. For each piece, cut out the core and remove the spikey rind. You should be left with dark yellow pieces of flesh. Remove the seeds, then tear about 2 cups of jackfruit and add to your bowl of jackfruit.

5. Toss the bean sprouts, shredded carrots, rau răm, mint, and cilantro into with the jackfruit. Drizzle with one tablespoon of sesame oil and toss to mix. Then add about 3-4 tablespoons of the dressing. Add more to taste.

6. To serve, break up bánh tráng mè into large pieces. Arrange on a large serving plate.* Pile in jackfruit salad and top with fried shallots, crushed peanuts, another quick squeeze of lime, and more herbs for garnish.  Make sure to have the extra nước chấm, chiles, and limes on the side for more kick!

* Note: In addition to jackfruit salad, we made a banana blossom salad, and used the outer leaves of the blossom as vessels to serve the jackfruit.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

MODERATE

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SERVES

4

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PREP TIME

15 MINS

For The Salad

  • 4-5 
    medium 
    shallots, diced
  • 4 
    tbs 
    vegetable oil
  • 6 
    cups 
    jackfruit, canned, fresh or combo
  • 2 
    medium 
    carrots, shredded
  • 1.5 
    cups 
    soy bean sprouts, rinsed + dried
  • 1.5 
    cups 
    rau răm (Vietnamese Cilantro), roughly chopped
  • 1/4 
    cup 
    cilantro, leaves and stems chopped
  • 1/4  
    cup 
    fresh mint, roughly chopped
  • 1 
    tbs 
    sesame oil

Nước chấm chay (vegetarian fish sauce dressing)

  • 3 
    cloves 
    garlic, minced
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    minced fresh pineapple
  • 3/4 
    cup 
    water
  • 3 
    tbs 
    cane sugar
  • 4 
    tbs 
    soy sauce
  • 1 
    large 
    lime, juiced, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 
    small 
    Thai bird chile, deseeded + minced

For Serving

  • 1/2 
    cup 
    crushed toasted peanuts
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    Bánh tráng mè (black sesame rice crackers)
  •  
     
    lime wedges
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    Thai chiles

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the nước chấm:  Finely chop the pineapple. Add to a small saucepan over low heat and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add ¾ cup water, the sugar, and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the lime juice, freshly chopped garlic, and ½ fined diced thai chili (optional) and mix together. Add more sugar if you want it a bit sweeter, or more soy sauce if you want it a bit saltier. Set aside.

2. Fry the shallots: Add 2 tablespoon of oil to a small saucepan over a high flame. As soon as the oil is warm, add half the shallots and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel and set aside. Repeat with remaining shallots, adding an additional 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan before frying.

3. Drain the canned jackfruit (if using) and remove all the seeds if any remain. Trim and discard any of the hard sections of the fruit. Tear the jackfruit into thin strips and transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water. Rinse all the jackfruit and use clean dishcloths to squeeze out all the excess water. Make sure to do this part well otherwise your salad will be mushy!

4. If using fresh jackfruit, oil your knife and your hands to avoid getting the fruit sap on your hands. Depending on how large the fruit is, cut into several large pieces widthwise. For each piece, cut out the core and remove the spikey rind. You should be left with dark yellow pieces of flesh. Remove the seeds, then tear about 2 cups of jackfruit and add to your bowl of jackfruit.

5. Toss the bean sprouts, shredded carrots, rau răm, mint, and cilantro into with the jackfruit. Drizzle with one tablespoon of sesame oil and toss to mix. Then add about 3-4 tablespoons of the dressing. Add more to taste.

6. To serve, break up bánh tráng mè into large pieces. Arrange on a large serving plate.* Pile in jackfruit salad and top with fried shallots, crushed peanuts, another quick squeeze of lime, and more herbs for garnish.  Make sure to have the extra nước chấm, chiles, and limes on the side for more kick!

* Note: In addition to jackfruit salad, we made a banana blossom salad, and used the outer leaves of the blossom as vessels to serve the jackfruit.

Hồng-Ân Trương is a multimedia artist, an activist and the only friend I know who managed to have HGTV build a skate ramp in their backyard (her family was the unlikely subjects of an episode of Love It Or List It). Hồng-Ân is a thoughtful, politically engaged artist and professor, and her ethical thinking extends from her studio to her diet: She is vegan, and like most vegans, constantly preoccupied with her next animal-free meal (you never know when the options might run-out). She is one of my favorite people to cook with, especially when it comes to the food she knows best: Vietnamese. When I was in Durham, we roped her mother, Hongly Trương, into the salad making experience, and they deftly cooked-up a vegan rendition of one of my absolute favorite dishes – jackfruit salad.

Hồng-Ân Trương In Her Own Words

Julia Sherman: You moved from Brooklyn to Durham. What does that town provide that NYC could not?

Hồng-Ân Trương: Affordable housing! That’s the most important thing! But I have a long history with Durham. It was my first experience of the American south, and the first city I called home after undergrad. Back then, I worked at the Center for Documentary Studies running community-based programs, and through my work as an activist, I got to know the history of the city and all its complexities in terms of race and class. I organized middle and high school students to protest against the war in Iraq; I love Durham for its resilient, dynamic, complicated, and close-knit activist community, especially amongst people of color. There is also a vibrant and burgeoning art scene, but without any of the stress or chaos of living in NYC.

JS: When it comes to your artwork, what are your main concerns and preoccupations?

HAT: I grew up as a refugee kid – my family fled Vietnam in 1975. As a result, most of my videos, photography, and sometimes sound art relates to my relationship to war and death. I’m concerned with how historical knowledge is produced, and how that knowledge impacts how we see ourselves in the world.

JS: I really loved your piece, To Speak A Language. It did an amazing job of weaving together the then and now of Hanoi. What do you want people to understand about Vietnam now?

HAT: I have never lived in Vietnam for more than a few months, so my viewpoint is very specific to the diasporic experience. Vietnam’s history cannot be extracted from its history of violent colonialism, so this makes its mark on everything. Contemporary Vietnam is an interesting, vibrant, and complicated place that cannot be reduced to its war with America, nor its highly fashionable food (I am tempted to say something snarky about that Bon Appétit video of a white dude teaching viewers how to eat their phở). My concerns are really about understanding history beyond the exotic stereotypes we have in the U.S.

JS: As a video art professor at UNC, what do you try and impart to students, given that most of them are not planning to become “professional” artists? Why is it important they learn to think like an artist, even if they may never make art objects again?

HAT: I teach mostly video to undergrads, so it’s kind of a no-brainer: I am teaching visual literacy, hopefully the ability to critique the world around them and challenge normalized social conventions. Don’t tell the president of my university this, but I’m secretly teaching them how to be activists. Haha.

JS: You guys were on the home decorating show, Love it or List It. I still get emails/screenshots from friends when they see the two of you on tv. Was it odd to participate in a sector of pop culture that you really don’t consume? What have been the lasting effects, besides the fact that your house rules?

HAT: When we first learned about the opportunity, I was like, ‘there is no way I’m going on a reality tv show!’ But then we learned more about the show: They are truly interested in giving your house an amazing renovation, and as far as reality television goes, it is a pretty innocuous and fun show. Once we said yes, we found out that so many people we know are closet HGTV watchers! We had a blast creating these subtle caricatures of ourselves. I can likely say that I am more famous for being on that show than for my work as an artist. LOL. But honestly we get stopped by strangers so much, especially at airports for some reason.