GAC FRUIT : How to COOK and EAT it! - Weird Fruit Explorer Ep. 345

My adventure cooking and eating the incredibly bizarre looking Gac fruit. In this video I make the Vietnamese rice dish Xoi Gac as well as juice.
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I used a recipe for gac fruit paste that I found on the channel Boriville and the sticky rice recipe came from the blog Vietvegan
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MUSIC:
"019 Ffuge No Five" by Miranda taylor and Mike Hunchback, Severed Lips Recording
Used with permission of artist. Available on Free music archive under a creative commons attribution.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Check out the first time I tried Gac in Thailand here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGPafJ2kj5mji6c

[@alexanderorr2528]

Hi Jared! I'm gonna be in Singapore this summer and maybe nearby parts of Malaysia I'm dying to know what fruits you would advise looking out for. Keep up the great vids

[@mytech6779]

Banana leaves can be had frozen from many asian supermarkets, maybe some central and south american stores.

[@tiki_trash]

So, I typed xoi gac into google translate for the correct pronunciation and the correct pronunciation is... (drum roll, please) "Yanni"

[@Edna2u]

I have seen Asians use cloth under their rice while steaming it

[@hochiminh7505]

You pronounced "gac" as "cặc". Cặc means male genital lol...

[@myopinion9173]

Your channel is one of the true hidden gyms of KZbin. I found it a while back, and now I watch your videos before I go to bed. It may sound weird, but something about your content is so interesting while being extremely relaxing at the same time. I have recommended your channel to all of my friends and o hope that you keep on growing and eventually reach your “impossible task” of tasting all of the fruits. Thank you for the amazing content, best wishes!

[@WeirdExplorer]

So nice to hear. Thank you

[@BL-zi9wb]

Gotta agree with My Opinion. I was going through some hard times last year and found myself watching your channel because it gave me a little world to escape to when I was at my worst. You might think you just eat fruit but you're doing a good thing for the rest of us Jared!

[@andrewevenson7798]

Hidden gym, I didn’t sign up for this! I hate exercise!

[@WhenTheSunLordsFell]

facts

[@gabetodd711]

@@WeirdExplorer I 2ND THIS

[@sneakersheik2418]

OMG, your labored pronunciation of the Asian name for gac fruit was absolutely hiLARIOUS, Jared! I laughed out loud, and my son asked me to be quiet, cause he’s working on an assignment!! 🤣😂

[@WeirdExplorer]

Haha :)

[@TamMinhLy]

I'm Vietnamese and you pronounced it just fine. You can pronounce it like "soy gak." Xôi Gấc has little tiddles that makes pronunciation different.

[@WeirdExplorer]

That may be a first for me. thank you

[@ovenfriedfries5055]

@@WeirdExplorer Watching you having a stroke trying to pronounce it was so funny =)).

[@owenlj6261]

Soyjack fruit?

[@Palisade5810]

Soyjak you say?

[@Fuzzycuffsqt]

That rice looks gorgeous. I believe I will make some in the shape of a dinosaur.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Please do!

[@penske4147]

I believe in u

[@proffesionalweredog7426]

yes

[@StonedtotheBones13]

This made me smile. What dinosaur?

[@accessGrant3d1]

our guy is SPONSORED. make that money, weird fruit dude

[@WeirdExplorer]

More of an affiliate. I make a small percentage when people use my link to buy something.

[@iLitAfuseiCantStop]

@@WeirdExplorer I wish it was more than 5% off. While it is something, saving what, 5 bucks if you spend $100 isnt the best coupon. If you have $100 to spend ordering fruit online that $5 isnt going to make much difference 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@robotempire]

@@iLitAfuseiCantStop ok then don’t use it lol

[@iLitAfuseiCantStop]

@@robotempire 🤣🤣🤣

[@joeykomlanc2303]

@@iLitAfuseiCantStop is rather spend $95 then $100

[@LisaLee__]

This has to be the most photogenic fruit, it's freaking gorgeous. Immediately your mind thinks it will be amazing

[@vickrykayser3129]

Disappointing, 😢.

[@jfrfilms6697]

this is probably one of the strangest channels I've ever found at 3AM, but i'm loving it

[@WeirdExplorer]

welcome!

[@savannahwatson8074]

“And this has water” *splashes it everywhere to prove he’s not lying*

[@johncolomb8173]

😂

[@emilywarner7707]

This was absolutely hilarious. Think the cat situation might have something to do with every flat surface being covered with bananas?

[@WeirdExplorer]

thats possible, cats dont like cucumbers right? so maybe bananas are the same

[@ricardoramroop8202]

Bro you just made ketchup and rice

[@ThomasW215PHL]

The force at which that jar was slammed onto the table is one I’ve never witnessed before.

[@ornokur6315]

Gac fruits are under genus Momordica which is under family Cucurbitoidea, the family of gourds, cucumber, melon, and squash. That's probably where the gourdish flavor comes from.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Yeah makes sense!

[@sazji]

Ah never knew that, but it makes sense because its the same genus as bitter melon, and the ripe fruits of that have similar red seeds with brilliant red arils. In Turkey those seeds are highly valued medicinally; the entire fruit is cut up and steeped for a few weeks in oil or honey, sometimes rubbed through a sieve into a paste, and and is supposed to be good for all sorts of things.

[@radionoakmont7756]

@@sazji very good to know very valuable knowledge

[@Realatmx]

@@sazji yup rippes Bittergourt.. Karela looks similar to this

[@JEMHull-gf9el]

Degac that gac fruit jared! I'm one of those anti tomato people. I grew 17 varieties of tomatos to try and find one I'd like...they all tasted like tomatoes and I hated them all.

[@koloblicin]

try growing physalis and use them like you would use tomatoes i like putting them in my salads or pasta sauces

[@davysmith1934]

At least you tried :) Did you try the heirloom tomatoes? Those tend to be very wide in favor ranges.

[@cybunny25]

I remember being excited for eating cherry tomatoes when I was like 7 or 8. My child brain thought it would be sweet tomatoes Boy I was wrong. I almost spat it out because the sourness surprised me Now that I'm an adult I don't mind the taste of tomatoes though

[@LatinaCreamQueen]

@@cybunny25 i know that feeling. Now I love caprese salads or just a sliced tomato with balsamic vinegar. Heirlooms are a bit over hyped and I find Roma are just fine. A perfect in-between. Very rustic and bright. Mexican/Hispanic grocery stores are your best bet to find some great ones!

[@Arthion]

Interestingly, my mother has a problem with tomatoes, but it actually isn't the taste, but the consistency of the seeds and flesh around the seeds. She really hates slimy textures

[@15chikibueno]

Now i know I've said this before in the past but me and my fiancé LOVE watching your videos, honestly its so original, nothing is staged or over promoted, you just do it right man. Keep it up bro!

[@WeirdExplorer]

Thanks so much!

[@15chikibueno]

no thank you sir!@@WeirdExplorer

[@XX-gy7ue]

you are so eccentric and so smart

[@WeirdExplorer]

:D

[@loganweiler5297]

This is the best video of yours I've seen. You seem to have opened up to the camera more. I notice you put extra creative and logistical effort into this one. You've really got the personality for KZbin!

[@WeirdExplorer]

thanks Logan!

[@censusgary]

Watermelon also contains lycopene.

[@kl3nd4thu]

9:46 Wow, your cat has very pretty eyes. Blue and green.

[@MrMomo182]

This is a delicacy in the Klingon Empire.

[@dumb445]

"two tablespoons of oil" *GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG*

[@austinfaust3374]

Jesse Graham came here to find this

[@kawecksshenanigans8010]

“Two shots of vodka” vibes coming from that one.

[@AlbinoAxolotl]

This is one of the most entertaining and awesome videos I’ve ever seen on your channel (and of course I’ve seen them all!)! I loved the extra length and the extra doses of CAT! Great humor and super interesting to boot!

[@WeirdExplorer]

So glad to hear it! I'd like to make more longform videos like this one.

[@emmabroughton2039]

I bet that would go really nicely with "pulled pork" style jackfruit.

[@chibimisaki2970]

Emma Goudie That’s sounds good!

[@stephanies9071]

Hmm😋

[@aprilliac]

This feels like it's cataloging your slow descent into madness

[@WeirdExplorer]

it wasn't slow.

[@AlexisTwoLastNames]

@@annamichos3752 agreed, Anna

[@gumpygumpy]

Yo i see that mighty taco shirt!!! Much love from the 716!!!!

[@karenrobertsdottir4101]

Come on, who doesn't have bananas growing around their place? If you were anywhere near Reykjavík I could give you all the banana leaves you could want. ;) Your cat is beautiful, BTW. Love those eyes!

[@WeirdExplorer]

Thanks Karen!

[@YeszCore]

I loved this video, you should do more cooking with exotic fruits!!

[@WeirdExplorer]

I plan on doing more like this in the future :)

[@ikeorch7]

Your cat’s eyes are beautiful!

[@griffingibson4389]

Dude you're really doing some valuable science. Many of these fruits haven't been properly documented and collected and described in the depth you do. Consider making a book from all of your travels eventually.

[@Just_Laura925]

Jared, I know this is old, but obviously I've now been watching your content for the past few days. LOVE IT! Seriously. Fruit has always been my passion (growing up with farmer parents). Just had to mention my Mighty Taco love, lol. A very few % of the population knows about it. Nice 🌯

[@WeirdExplorer]

Anytime I'm out in western ny I get a mighty taco and a Tim Hortons donut. :) Oh yeah? What kind of farm did you have?

[@Just_Laura925]

We didn't actually have a farm but both my parents grew up on them. We had an acre and just planted things for the family. We had an apple tree, pear tree, plum tree, peach tree, grape vines, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, rhubarb, corn, watermelon, tomatoes, zucchini, wild blackcaps in the woods behind the house, and I'm sure theres more I'm forgetting. Somehow I never got the green thumb, lol.

[@notavailable8130]

so Gac juice + lemon + vodka = a Bloody Gac or Gac'y Mary...

[@Supkidscookingshow]

This is awesome! We actually just made Xôi Gấc to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. It is an interesting taste...definitely not what we expected. It is more like a vegetable. Thank you for sharing!! We couldn't find a baby jackfruit where we are.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Sometimes you can find frozen paste. Not as good as fresh, but would do in a pinch.

[@President_Starscream]

As a kid I didn't like tomatoes. As an adult I was too anxious to ask for no tomatoes on my burgers, and too lazy to take them out, so I ate them anyway. Now I love tomatoes and can't imagine not enjoying them.

[@mikeg6554]

9:46 - Cat's expression: "I'm just lying up here dude. What makes you think I was hiding?"

[@eeeehale]

LOVED the comments you provoked! You have the funniest chill viewers.

[@CasualSteamGamer]

For some reason "Gac Juice" sounds really dirty to me.

[@ikbintom]

The reason is that gac sounds like gag of course, although that doesn't say anything about the fruit which is just unlucky to have this name

[@chieuoanhlam9553]

Xôi Gấc...Vietnamese sweet rice. 😍😍 love your video. This is suppers fruit and good for eyes.😍😍

[@splendidcolors]

The best way to pour stuff into a jar is to use a canning funnel. It's a big funnel with a big opening to fit in a standard Mason jar. Great for transferring soup etc. to old spaghetti sauce jars for storage without making a mess!

[@clarabellen]

Thank you for going to all that trouble and work to let me know I never ever need or want to xD

[@ncooty]

@12:58 "David Bowie is ..." Is what?! ... in this bag? ... right behind you?

[@quotedseeker8489]

...is a star man

[@LTPottenger]

I don't know but I heard Andy Warhol is dead.

[@convictguard155]

Bananas

[@emcrectangled]

man, who could resist giving rice a good ol' slap

[@Ava_Orchid]

Cabbage leaves work well when steaming smaller things or sticky things

[@radionoakmont7756]

one quick thing can you use corn husk like when your steaming tamales instead of the wax paper some sweet corn husk is like the banana leaf flavor wise.

[@meversace]

I love your sense of humor. It definitely adds an extra bit of entertainment value to the videos.

[@phunghieule3805]

I live in Việt Nam. I see vietnamese words “xoi hav” and Vietnamese sticky rice in your video, that is so exciting. Your channel contents many knowledges. Like it!

[@gohgohchan]

Some tips from my Granma after I showed her this video: a. If you prepare for your family meal, you don't always need to remove the seed from the pod if it is too hard for you, you can steam the seed with the rice for decoration and remove them when you eat, much easier (chewing on the cooked membrane is fun). Ofcourse if you make it for someone, or for sale and want it too look good, removing the seed before is ok. b. You don't need to fry the gac pulp, but you may want to mix with a little white liquor and leave rest, for better coloring, final rice will look more red. c. she complimented on sitting the rice in water, and usage of steamer. (She is mad though of the bootleg Thai rice trying to impersonate Vietnamese rice with the Vietnamese text. )

[@charleswarren2089]

Love this style of video and commentary! Audibly laughed multiple times. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to some of your future trips this summer and next winter!

[@WeirdExplorer]

Thanks!

[@tammyanderson8885]

Finding your videos has made me become more experimental with fruits and vegetables with my 5yr old son.

[@WeirdExplorer]

glad to hear it!

[@35oz19g]

You need a basket to make sticky rice fam ✌

[@hx0ad5]

the maggot crawling around in that first gac in thailand still gets to me...

[@ifga16]

Looks a lot different than the Klingon gac served in an episode of Star Trek, Second Generation.

[@noname-cr7tk]

Wow I didint know rokakaka fruits were real!!!!

[@sooobyrooo5763]

Nice cookware! Lovely recipe I want to try. I kind of put off watching this because of how the last GAC went and I'm glad I watched cuz this was awesome thank you.

[@mintysingularity]

So much work! Probably would be better with pandan, cilantro, pepper, galangal or lemongrass.

[@TheGoffinator]

The skin of the gac fruit reminds me of the balls you would always play with at the store, yet never take home.

[@1Akai1]

Wonder if you can use it instead of tomatoes. A friend of mine can't eat tomatoes because of health reasons. He misses all the tomato foods pizza, pasta. Going to ask him to ask his doctor if he can use it instead.

[@ctdubzz]

Love your channel man. Lol I even have a strange aversion to most fruits that I’ve always tried to hide because let’s face it, that’s pretty weird. Even I love watching your videos though and have even tried new fruits and have found so much to find entertaining on your channel. Keep it up man 👍🏼

[@davecannon1523]

If you have a domed mesh strainer, I might just dump the seeds in there and mush them around with a spoon until the pulp strains through.

[@damianlopez7630]

Your Videos are Freakin Awesome. You are One of the most Interesting Creators on KZbin By Far!!! You have a Very Charismatic Persona. And Your Curiosity and Sharing Heart Makes You a Tour de Force in KZbin.

[@dantegrandia1990]

I love how you’ve been sponsored multiple times but the fruit reviews always seem genuine, even when you don’t like it

[@WeirdExplorer]

Thanks! I try to give options on how fruit can be useful even if its isn't good. But if its bad, I'll tell you 😅

[@TheWeirdestOfBugs]

I love all your videos, but any video with Vostok in it makes it twice as good. Also, I hadn't noticed that she has eyes of different color.

[@WeirdExplorer]

She does! She probably had a Siamese Grandmother

[@TheWeirdestOfBugs]

@@WeirdExplorer You never know with cats. Give her some ear scritches from us when you're there, and a hug for you.

[@katiekane5247]

@@WeirdExplorer are you sure she can hear? Disparate eye color often means deafness tho not always

[@vickielawson3114]

That cat looks cool with one green eye and one blue eye!!

[@shinjibing8364]

The way he holds cups is like a 19th century nobleman at a Prince’s going away for college (in those times it would apprenticeship) and every time he takes a drink he has to say something very pretentious and make a joke about how rich he is in a very British accent along with a random French quote followed by a group laugh such as “thou silk dinner jacket is scrumptious. La vie en Rose muahahah”

[@danirusso469]

I think I am just as amused by the Mighty Taco shirt. Drunk Buffalo food versus a really interesting fruit dish.

[@richardbaker1400]

Loved the video. I always read the comments, they are calming also. No hate.

[@cpuffins]

That is the most gorgeous fruit I've ever seen holy crap

[@doglover12345andfr]

Yum! Deep fried hand…my favourite!

[@rougesunset]

5:18 Jared whyyy 😂😂😂

[@theelectricant98]

"after im done using this paste, I'm gonna want to take this oil and rub it all over my body" hahahaha

[@radionoakmont7756]

i need this fruit and or tree to have that mass amounts of lycopene that is very good for the prostate for optimal health for that part of the body and good for you overall too and must have a lot of vitamin e also, id love to have some xoi gac it sounds delish, i love tomatoes and chili peppers too they have lycopene and i know id love GAC too majorly.

[@rattlesnakz9716]

5:18 ..................... The splash ......... I'm dead hahahah

[@chibimisaki2970]

Lol you sounded like a cat coughing up a fire ball! 😂 I missed your vids. Thanks KZbin! Not.

[@quotedseeker8489]

Fire or fur

[@pmkz7970]

you should just dump them all in together, then use a spoon to stir it up, then pick the seeds out. If used to cook xoi gac(pronounced like soy), put some salt and rice wine before you stir them up, you can leave the seeds in and mix with the sticky rice then just steam, ONLY add sugar after the rice is cooked, add a some drops of coconut oil if you want to. mix well before you turn off the fire.

[@jessicajoan2477]

I would recommend you to use cheese cloth when steaming glutinous rice

[@Landon_Lucas]

Its ok to do the rice in batches and steam on a plate as well

[@UnluckyDoctor]

I wonder if tamale husks would work as a substitute for banana leaves.

[@WeirdExplorer]

That would work for sure!

[@vickrykayser3129]

After all the time and effort it took to make that, I would have to more than just like it. That was a procedure! 😮

[@gabriellafrancois2238]

Ooh my dear lord your CAT 🐈 SOOOO ADORABLE HE MADE MY DAY❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@k8eekatt]

The bottle you use for the oil looks vintage, very beautiful.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Thanks! I picked that up at the dollar store!

[@lethiettam04]

protip: xoi does not need to be soaked overnight, I pour a ton of boiling water into the ricecooker pot with rice and in like an hour it's good and ready to cook and it needs less water after that since it's almost par-cooked. extra protip: use broth or coconut milk for even fattier, richer xoi lol with your gac juice, does not sound good

[@ttdean949]

You got to love this guy’s interpretation of gac & his Asian cooking skills, lol.

[@electronkaleidoscope5860]

The dream big mug was a genius visual gag dude

[@WeirdExplorer]

Glad you picked up on that subtlety :)

[@hoatmai1348]

That actually not how we usually do it. We mix raw gac with rice, not the cook one and with the whole seed in there because it suck a pain to do separate it by hand. And we usually add coconut milk. Beside it suppose to be a sweet treat so i have never seen anyone eating it with ham before.

[@bludelphinium994]

🤣🤣🤣 Great pronunciation 👍 🤣🤣🤣 Super cute. ☺️

[@TBST669]

from Vietnam, you should cook it with mung bean, shredded coconut, sugar & a little salt

[@LisaLee__]

I vaguely remember watching Nickelodeon commercials just wishing to order some "outrageous Nickelodeon GAC!" Or was it gack, or yack, or maybe my mind escapes me.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Gac was pretty great!

[@minhduong7804]

It's pronounced like shoy-gac . The " xôi gấc " is quiet popular, we usually eat it like a desert with salt, sugar, peanut and sesame seeds mix. Or with a side of sweetened coconut cream. We also eat it with savory dishes like rice.

[@letsgobrandon99306]

Ah okay, so this is related to Spiny Gourd (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momordica_dioica). Which again related to bitter melon (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momordica_charantia). But Gac or Spiny Gourds are not bitter, even they can be sweet when ripe. We eat Spiney Gourd when it's not ripe. The green ones can be sliced and fried, tastes really good. Add some tomato sauce and you can eat it like snacks.

[@fooo2241]

After seeing the "praying hands bananas" I took a look at Miami Fruit's website. Everything looks amazing!! Very cool to see so many different exotics available in the US!

[@Megraptor]

I've been binge-watching your videos the last couple days, and that's a new cat! Did... the other cat, the other cat, the gray one... Did she pass away? And thank you for making these videos. These help me with my anxiety!

[@WeirdExplorer]

Yeah Lethean passed on. Vostok has big shoes to fill, but she's been doing a great job as cohost.

[@Megraptor]

@@WeirdExplorer I'm so sorry!!!! I lost a cat last year and I still miss her... I love cats so much.... I hope Vostok does fill those shoes! I also love fruit, and as a kid I had a similar goal to you! I'm so happy that you make these videos, but maybe someday I'll get to do this myself! Thank you for responding too!

[@Ratryoshka]

Lol the soy meat substitute thing looks like tahu, a very common dish in southeast asia

[@sewaddle3685]

I want one of those so badly right now I think I'll buy one just because they look cool

[@dominiquesiwulich4746]

Your cat is my cats doppelganger!❤

[@detectfevi]

You deserve way more subs.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Its slowly climbing :)

[@richardandreherrera4119]

Wow! Such a simple and easy recipe is good to make in a month of Sundays!

[@AcoAegis]

Lycopene is not considered essential, because it can't be converted into vitamin A like beta-carotene. Vitamin A is the essential nutrient in question, and beta-carotene is the standard provider of it. Lycopene and beta-carotene are both considered carotenes, hence the confusion. People often assume that carotenes all have health benefits, but they don't. There's actually a huge variety. Lycopene specifically has very little effect on human health, whereas beta-carotene IS essential to many diets around the world. Canthaxanthin however, is another carotene as well: a very strong antioxidant. It's also the main ingredient in tanning pills. Talk about getting thrown for a loop. (Tanning pills aren't nearly as bad as people think they are by the way, but definitely not worth a fake tan, of all things.) Gac fruit actually has both lycopene and beta-carotene in massive quantities. Gac has 100-300 times more lycopene than tomatoes, and about 10 times more beta-carotene than carrots. Interesting things about lycopene: -it doesn't dissolve in water or alcohol, but will dissolve in cooking oil (triglycerides), among other things, mostly inedible, like chloroform or hexane. -it melts at 351F or 177C -lycopene is the reason tomato sauces dye plastic containers orange. You can remove that stain with heavily diluted bleach. -numerous clinical studies have been and are still being performed on lycopene because of possible medical claims surrounding it. None of them have found any evidence that lycopene has any effect on our health.

[@katiekane5247]

The last time I spent that much time & effort on food, there was a holiday & 20 guests involved. Guess I'm just not very adventurous any more!

[@WeirdExplorer]

Its definitely something to get for a special occasion.

[@jeffl4802]

What did/can you do with the rest of it? You used red stuff from around the seeds, but not the seeds or outside.

[@TheLethargian]

ive been snowed in my house and ive been binging your content its so good

[@Caberbalschnit]

Still my favorite intro music ever!