Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas

Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas. Esta receta también está disponible en español.

This recipe is inspired by the Colombian traditional dish lechona, which consists basically of roasted pork. Impossible to make vegan or vegetarian you might say? Almost. But using jackfruit to make a vegan “pulled pork” is the answer here.

Colombian Lechona

The original dish, from the Tolima region, consists of roasted pork, yellow peas and crispy pork skin. In other parts of the country they add rice . The ingredients are mixed together and cooked inside a “cushion” (cojín) of pork skin. The plate is accompanied by a white arepa (corn cake). Lechona is popular year round, but many people eat it especially around Christmas. If you don’t know the original dish and you would like to see it, here you can find a good recipe including pictures.

Click here for more Colombian lunch or dinner ideas!

Vegan Jackfruit Pulled Pork to make Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas

For this version inspired by traditional lechona, I use jackfruit to make a vegan pulled pork. Some facts about jackfruit:

• It is a tropical fruit that grows on a tree
• It has a spiky outside and weighs on average 15 kg
• The fruit comes originally from Asia, but nowadays is found all over the world
• The last years popularity increased because of the use of jackfruit as a meat replacement
• The ripe jackfruit is yellow on the inside, sweet of taste, and you eat it as a fruit
• The unripe jackfruit however is green/white, you need to cook it first and then you can use it as a vegetable or meat replacement

Luckily these days you can find canned, unripe jackfruit so it is not necessary to buy a whole jackfruit, clean and prepare it, before you can cook it (I’ve been there and it was intense..).

Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas

For this version I use jackfruit as a meat replacement. The mixture of rice and peas is very similar to the original. Finally, I add oven-baked crispy peas to resemble the texture of the crispy pork skin.

Instructions:

• Marinate the canned, unripe jackfruit in a traditional marinade consisting of onion, garlic, cumin, oil and water. Add smoked paprika to get an extra smoky flavor
• After cooking it shred with forks to get the stringy texture
• Mix together the cooked rice and yellow peas with scallion and a spice mix
• Lastly, roast some of the yellow peas in the oven, with plenty of oil and salted generously, to provide the crunchy-salty bite that is so necessary
• Place elements on a plate and serve with an arepa

Enjoy!

Do you love Colombian food? Click here for more recipes of Colombian vegetarian food!

Links

Arroz Blanco (White Rice)

Arepas Colombianas (Colombian Corn Cakes)

Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas

Jackfruit Lechona with Crispy Peas is a vegan version inspired by the original Colombian dish. It consists of jackfruit pulled pork, a traditional spiced rice and yellow pea mixture, and crispy oven-baked salty peas to provide the necessary crunchy texture.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Colombian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Jackfruit Pulled Pork

• 2 cans young, unripe jackfruit in water or brine, drained and rinsed with water 280 g drained, per can
• 1 big green onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for baking
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika powder, plus some extra if necessary
• salt and pepper

Other ingredients

• 200 g white rice, cooked after cooking about 550 g
• 250 g dried yellow peas, soaked at least 12 hours and cooked until ready to eat if unavailable replace with dried green peas or chickpeas
• vegetable oil
• 1 big green onion, chopped
• 1,5 tsp "complete" seasoning mix or replace by a mix of turmeric, paprika, onion and garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 4 arepas, according to their recipe (see link above in text)

Instructions

 

• Yellow peas

  Start by boiling the yellow peas in water, after they soaked for at least 12 hours. This can take between 1 - 2,5 hours in a normal pot, faster in a pressure cooker
• Prepare the marinade for the jackfruit.

  Place chopped onion, garlic, oil, water, cumin, smoked paprika, pepper and salt in a bowl and mix with a blender until liquid.

  Add drained and rinsed jackfruit, mix well, and marinate for at least 1 hour
• Prepare crispy peas

  When the peas are cooked, place about 1/3 on a baking tray, add a generous amount of vegetable oil, and bake them until golden and crispy, for about 35 mins at 200 degrees Celsius.

  Take them out when ready and salt them, place aside until other elements are ready
• Cook the Jackfruit Pulled Pork

  Place marinated jackfruit in a frying pan, with some additional oil if the mixture is dry. You might want to add some extra smoked paprika, to achieve a red-ish color.

  Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 20-30 minutes.

  Using two forks, shred the jackfruit until it looks "pulled".

  Turn up the heat and cook some minutes without a lid to brown the jackfruit
• Prepare rice and pea mixture

  Cook the chopped green onion in vegetable oil, together with the spice mix, for 3-5 minutes.

  Add the cooked white rice and the rest of the cooked yellow peas, season generously

  Mix together well and make sure it is heated all the way through
• Assemble the dish

  Divide the rice and pea mixture over 4 plates. Add 1/4 of the jackfruit pulled pork per plate. Sprinkle over some crispy peas. Serve with an arepa.

  Enjoy!

Keyword jackfruit, lechona, peas, vegan, vegetarian

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