When you don’t want meat but still crave innards, only one fruit will do

A spiky, tree-borne thing native to South Asia, the jackfruit looks more like your second-favorite loofah — the one you use just for your feet — than it does a produce to crave for lunch. It can weigh up to 100 pounds — roughly the size of an alien pod or a dinosaur egg — and its smell is often described as “musky.”



But something about jackfruit’s fibrous innards calls out to curious kitchens. The exotic monster commands a following among chefs — including a few in Kansas City who have concentrated on turning this vegetarian flesh into a pretty legit blank slate for barbecue. Am I saying I’d go for any of these four meatless dishes instead of actual smoked meat? Nah. But if you’re herbivorous or lean that way, these should definitely be in your future.



Curry Jack Chicken Sandwich

Füd (813 West 17th Street)

One More Cup (7408 Wornall Road)

Mud Pie (1615 West 39th Street)



Since its 2011 opening, Füd has become a vegan mainstay, encouraging its patrons to “eat the rainbow.” Naturally, these culinary colors include jackfruit, a primary ingredient in the grab-and-go sandwiches Füd offers at multiple locations around the city.



Füd’s curry-jack chicken sandwich has a bright, subtly spicy flavor, featuring large chunks of faux-meat topped with crispy pickles and mayo that together serve as a bite-by-bite reminder that vegan doesn’t always mean low in calories. The bread-to-filling ratio sometimes seems a little slim, but this sandwich remains one of my favorite post-workout buys, a quick meal easily devoured on my way back to my desk.



If you have a bit more time on your hands (and a wad of cash — Füd doesn’t take credit cards), the sunny Westside restaurant also serves up a reasonable facsimile of a barbecue sandwich: tender, slow-roasted jackfruit topped with onions, pickles and barbecue sauce, on sourdough bread.



Jack Tamales by Mean Vegan

One More Cup or McGonigle’s Market (1307 West 79th Street)



Mimicking the flavor of traditional pork tamales, Mean Vegan’s cornhusk-wrapped treats can be heated in the microwave in a minute flat for a quick and filling lunch. Combined with corn masa, the seasoned, slow-cooked jackfruit just might fool someone in a blind taste test against real pulled pork. All right, all right — that’s a bit of a stretch. But if you top these tamales with a little hot sauce, even an obligate carnivore will dig them at a dinner party. Especially the “saucy” version, which is stuffed with vegan queso.



Jackfruit Tamales

Beer Kitchen (435 Westport Road)



If there’s room for a touch of leisure in your lunch, the jackfruit tamales at Westport’s Beer Kitchen are a fine way to nurse your post-Royals hangovers. (Whether you’re drinking or not, those boys know how to keep us up late.) When I ordered the dish to carry out, the tamales — which combine vegan blue-corn masa, two kinds of salsa, beans and beer-batter avocado — looked more like a make-believe meat mountain than like traditional tamales. But the bright, zesty flavor of the concoction was true to form (and finely complemented by the fried avocado wedges on the side), with the jackfruit serving as a stand-in for ground beef, and the salsa verde spicy and refreshing.



The Jackknife

Char Bar (4050 Pennsylvania)

Based on appearance alone, Char Bar’s Jackknife sandwich looks like authentic barbecue. Piled high on a toasted egg bun and topped with melted provolone, avocado and fried jalapenos, the smoked jackfruit might not taste exactly like pulled pork, but when you’re confronted with a dish this original, you are unconcerned with replication. Char Bar’s tangy, tender jackfruit stands as legitimate barbecue on its own merit, not merely as a suitable substitute for something else. Odd as it sounds, this thing actually lives up to its Kansas City heritage.