Fruits and Veggies Monday - Breadfruit

Have you ever tried breadfruit? Have you ever even heard of breadfruit? Until recently, I had not. It was not until I moved to Puerto Rico that I was introduced to this “wonder food”.

Breadfruit, locally known as “pana”, is a fruit that grows from a very beautiful tree. Once you see a breadfruit tree, you can easily point them out. The trees are enormous and the leaves have a very unique and beautiful shape. You can almost always spot some breadfruit growing, and if you look hard enough, you will find one ready for picking.

Why a Wonder Food?

If you have a breadfruit tree, you pretty much always have food. This tree is highly productive. Here in the Caribbean, you can spot these trees everywhere. Just one breadfruit can feed a family of five, we are five and we usually have leftovers. Breadfruit is rich in vitamins and is a good source of protein and carbohydrates.
Because of its nutritional value and abundance, there has been interest in breadfruit trees to provide food security in many areas.

Eating Breadfruit

Before you eat breadfruit, it has to be peeled and cored. After it is cleaned you can cut it into workable pieces.

The fruit can be eaten many ways from savory to sweet. The traditional way to eat breadfruit here is to simply boil like a potato, and eat it with some salt cod or bacalao.
You can also use it as a main dish for a delicious vegetarian curry, and although I have not tried it yet, it can be turned into gluten-free flour.
Once the fruit is ripe it can be used for sweet dishes as well, such as flan.

My personal favorite is to fry it as we would fry plantains.

First, you clean the breadfruit and cut them into chunks.

Then you fry it a little bit until it starts to turn golden but not brown

Then you mash it, here I am using a tostonera, but you can also use a flat plate.

After you smash it, you fry it again until it is golden brown.

Now you have deliciously crisp tostones de pana. This is also a great way to freeze breadfruit. Since it cannot be frozen raw, you do all the steps until the first fry, then you can freeze them. I like to separate them using wax paper, then when I am ready to use them, just fry them and serve.

Here I served breadfruit 2 ways. We have tostones de pana, and some boiled breadfruit. I also add a little tropical flair by adding a mojo to the boiled breadfruit. Just saute some onions with olive oil, then adding lemon, orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and bay leaves.

These are two very simple ways I most commonly use breadfruit at home. There are many other uses, and breadfruit is so versatile you can let your imagination run wild and explore new uses.
Whats your favorite recipe for breadfruit? I'd love to hear it!