This breadfruit tacos recipe is delicious
Breadfruit, breadfruit, breadfruit!
Jump to RecipeSince I moved to the Western part of the country from the East Coast, I’ve been searching for breadfruits for seven years. When I lived in New York, I was in Westchester County, half an hour North of the Bronx—a Caribbean haven. So it was very convenient to find breadfruit whenever I needed it. Now that I’m on the West Coast (San Francisco Bay Area), where there’s no substantial Caribbean contingency, finding my favorite Caribbean foods could prove challenging.
Breadfruit source
In my pursuit to find breadfruit, I visited quite a few Asian markets in my neck of the woods. I checked in at Lion Supermarket, 99 Ranch, and Pacific Market among others. I had no such luck! Then one day, it hit me— people from an island I’d always love to visit, Fiji, enjoy breadfruit just as much as we do in the Caribbean.
Since there’s a large population of islanders here: folks from Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, I started to google Pacific Island stores frantically. Every single one of them I called had breadfruit—frozen or whole. I was in heaven. I decided to visit a store close to the San Francisco airport in San Bruno, Neelam Pacific Market, and picked up 4 breadfruits.
Why do I love breadfruit so much?
Breadfruit is a staple that I grew up on in my native Dominica. My grandparents had a colossal breadfruit tree in their yard, and we were so blessed to eat this delicious food often.
My favorite way to eat breadfruit is roasted, with the skin on, scraped, and with a large portion of codfish, smoked meat or smoked fish like kayee. You can also eat breadfruit boiled, slice, or mashed to create ton ton, pies, or balls—also sliced then fried.
I wanted to create something a little different. I’d seen breadfruit tacos and always wanted to try it. As soon as I picked up my breadfruits, I was determined to make these delicious breadfruit treats. I wanted to make them uniquely my own so of course I put my own spin on it. I had a few breadfruits to play along with, so I figured out that it was ok if I messed up a bit. There was room for error.
Let me share with you my breadfruit tacos recipe. I used Dominican codfish bulljaw for the filling. I added the bulljaw recipe below. I’ve also featured it in a previous post. See link here.
Jump to Video
Breadfruit tacos recipe
Equipment
- Large pot
- cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Deep frying pan or saucepan for frying
- Toothpicks
Ingredients
- 1 breadfruit
- 1 pot water
- codfish bulljaw see previous recipe
- large lettuce leaves to put at base of shells
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Place a large pot of water to boil, add breadfruit, and let it cook for around 30 minutes
- Remove breadfruit from pot and let it cool for a few minutes
- Hold the breadfruit firmly and using a large sharp knife slice into thin rounds
- Slice as many as you need
- Then cut off skin and core (You may leave the core on if you like)
- Gently fold to shape like a taco shell, use two toothpicks to hold it in place.
- Place on a large plate or tray and repeat this process for all breadfruit slices
- Heat oil for deep frying, using a pair of tongs submerge breadfruit slices in pan,
- You can guide slices with tongs if you need to
- You can leave the small toothpicks in the taco shells and remove them after they're cooked. Or, you can do like I did. If your'e using larger toothpicks, you may need to remove them safely. Be very careful as you need to adjust it in the hot oil.
- Remove when golden brown
- Set over tissue paper
- Repeat this for the rest of the shells
- Stuff the shell with your favorite filling. I chose codfish/ salt fish
Video
Notes
Codfish buljaw
Ingredients
- 1 lb Codfish If you don’t have cod use salted pollack
- 2 Onions chopped
- 1/4 cup Parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup Scallions/Green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup Vegetable oil or extra virgin
- 2 Cloves of Garlic minced or granulated garlic powder
- 1 1/4 tbsp Curry or turmeric powder
- 1/2 Hot pepper chopped
Instructions
- You may choose to soak your codfish overnight or boil it, changing the water and boiling again to remove the salt.
- After you’ve removed most of the salt, strain it using a strainer or a colander and using your hands, shred it into smaller pieces.
- Heat a frying pan or skillet on the stove and add the oil.
- Toss in the onions, turmeric or curry, garlic and stir.
- When the onions are al dente, add the cod to the mixture and continue stirring.
- Finally, add the parsley flakes and hot pepper.
- Turn off the stove when you feel that you’ve achieved the right consistency and uniform color for your codfish bulljaw.
I would love to make this but I can’t select a breadfruit 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️ just do not know how. So may have to use green banana or plantain 😁👍🏽
Hi Hyacinth,
The best way to select is to use your sense of touch and sight. You want to choose one that is not too green as it may not be mature. You also want one that’s round instead of long, so you’ll get a nice width for the taco shells. I chose one that was less firm and slightly soft to the touch. You can certainly use green bananas and plantains. All the best!
I’m sure my family will love this. My daughter loves breadfruit just as much as I do.
Hi Merlyn,
This is lovely. Happy that your daughter loves breadfruit, and I hope she’ll love these tacos. I’m confident that your entire family will enjoy it as well.
I can’t get enough of your creations. This is absolutely unique and delicious looking, and I will certainly be trying it.