From Ottawa to Maui – JACKFRUIT HOT SAUCE

Here we are

Well here we are, sitting in a beautiful house not too far from Haleakala on the island of Maui.  It’s 83 degrees (28C) outside and sunny but every once in a while a rain shower passes over and dampens the rainforest.  The ridiculously long and cold winter of home seems a distant memory and the anxiety of packing up our life, selling our stuff on Kijiji and leaving work have finally melted away.

Once again our stuff is in storage

74 chickens, a dog and a cat

We have taken over running our friends’ guest houses for a while but there is so much more to it than housesitting.  Both properties are beautifully planted and landscaped with a cornucopia of fruit and flowering plants as well as huge lawns that need to be taken care of on a daily basis.  I should probably also mention that there are 74 chickens, a dog and a cat.  The chickens are egg laying but at the moment production is a bit down, still we have enough eggs to eat and sell the odd dozen.

Chickens, Makana and Bella

The ins and outs

Arriving on Maui we were put through what we jokingly called boot camp, learning all the ins and outs of the mechanical and practical runnings of the operation.  Nat was shown most of the administrative end and the chicken feeding routine and I was shown how all the gas, electrical and mechanical items function.  In between, we took mental notes of everything else that we may face in the chance of emergency.
Part of our deal is that we will be able to harvest as much fruit as is ripe for our consumption and the rest we can sell to a local fruit vendor.
“The Jamaican lilikoi is going off!” our friend told us and they are a hot commodity.  There is also avocado, papaya, hard lilikoi, pineapple, oranges, soursop, pohole and huge bunches of bananas.  The thing is, living deep in the heart of frost bitten Canada had not prepared us for how to tell when or how to harvest these delicious beauties, but we sure are not going to let that stop us and our friends were more than eager to share all they could about the bounty of Maui and their land.
The second property, sitting way out in a secluded spot in a small area called Kipahulu, is also loaded with fruit trees and is off the grid, forcing an extreme serenity on anyone who visits.  It is a 40 minute drive down the very narrow and twisty Hana highway.

One day we received a phone call from Virginia, a friend of Anya’s, asking if we had any eggs and if we could bring some out on our next trip to Kipahulu.  It turns out she lives a little farther out and quite a bit more secluded in a bamboo forest that she and her husband maintain and harvest for the wood.  They also have stands of koa, mahogany, teak and other exotic wood.  Like many folks out here, they grow a lot of what they consume and live a very “natural” lifestyle.

Bamboo cottage in Kipahulu

Warm aloha

Pulling up to their bamboo house, still in the midst of being finished, Virginia came to meet us with warm aloha and an inviting smile.  She was keen to show us the house and share some of what was growing in the garden with us.  We were told that Woody Harrelson and his family lived next door and that they all shared an endless love for Maui and living an aloha lifestyle, eating fruit off their trees and being very self sufficient.  There was no doubt that Virginia was enjoying her life here and her enthusiasm was contagious.
“Do you have any Maui peppers?” she asked.  To which I replied no.
“Well here, you have to take some of these, they’re awesome”
“How about some jackfruit? Here, try some of this one I am dehydrating in the oven”.
Jackfruit is a huge spiky monster that oozes a latex sap when it is cut and unless you rub your hands with cooking oil first, it will stick like glue to anything that touches it.  If you can get passed cutting it up and pulling the leafy fruit out from around the seeds you are rewarded with a flavour explosion that, as Virginia told us, was the inspiration for juicy fruit gum, a kind of cross between banana and pineapple.  The seeds, when roasted or boiled, taste like chestnuts.  Mature and ripe jackfruit are orangeish inside and sweet but we were told that immature fruit can be steamed and cooked in various savoury dishes.  It’s a crazy looking fruit that I was eager to cook with and consume.

Jackfruit

Back at the main house we munched on some of the jackfruit as a snack but we had lots more to use.  Virginia mentioned that her husband had made hot sauce with it so I figured I would give it a try and get to use those fiery Maui peppers as well.  The result was better than I could have hoped for and everyone agreed it was one of the most unique and “ono” sauces they have tried.

Hot peppers and jackfruit

The recipe that follows is very easy to put together once you have the fruit and you can vary the amount of peppers you put in to increase or lower the heat.  I think it pairs well with fish or chicken but we also love it on our morning eggs.

Jackfruit hot sauce

Have you tried jackfruit before?