Kun Poh

I was told last year, Kun Poh and Wu Zi Guo (Five Fingers Fruit) looks similar but are different.  I don't know.   I had Wu Zi Guo in July 2015 and fell in love with it, for the smoothness and 'grown on you' kind of quality it presented.

Just recently, 10 August 2016, I was lured by one of my trusted durian seller, whom called to tell me, "I got 2 odd durians, suspect it's Wu Zi Guo and Lao Tai Po".  So I made a trip down.  The outlooks of both durians, one looks like a Wu Zi Guo but the other, well, a little like Lao Tai Po, but dubious too.

My trusted seller told me,
-  Durian 1 : it's either Wu Zi Guo, otherwise it will be Kun Poh.
-  Durian 2 : Could be Lao Tai Po or D17, which I doubt it's D17 right from the start.

I brought both durians home, whole.  Fridge it overnight before opening it the next day.

Kun Poh or Wu Zi Guo?
Upon Opening, the color and texture of the flesh doesn't look like Wu Zi Guo, so I took a photo and verify it with the seller.  He said it should be Kun Poh.

Wu Zi Guo has soft texture, with the milky beige color look, while Kun Poh is yellowish orangery in color.  Texture is also firmer and dryer.

Visual

The exterior shell is similar with Wu Zi Guo, having that sectional look, with a pointy 'backside'.  The thorns are tough and rough, firm and kind of ugly. 

Texture, Taste, Aroma (Flesh)
The color is orangery yellow, but not as orangery as D13, Red Prawn, D101, etc, yet not near yellow like MSW.  It's just a...cross.

The flesh is rather firm and dry, a little closer to Thai durian, but minus the crunchiness bite.

The taste is mild, with a simple nutty taste.  Generally, light bodied, mildly sweet mildly bitter.  It's not the general taste of Kun Poh (since I didn't have choices to choose from but just 1 odd piece), so I'll leave this as is.

This one piece of Kun Poh, I'll give it a 3/10.  Not saying it's not good, but this particular piece isn't able to let me conclude anything.  Given a chance, I will try it again, so I can have a better idea what it is actually like.

Photos

Heaty Remedy

Chinese medicine tends to establish our general health into "heaty" and "cooling" (not exactly sure of the proper TCM terms).  

Heatiness leads to fever, sore throat and the likes.  Cooling leads to weak health where our energy is weaken, probably feels cold in our lungs too. (I'll try find out a little on these another day).

Food and fruits and it's weighing on our health includes cooling and heatiness.  Durian is said to be one of the most heaty fruit while Mangosteen is said to be cooling.  There are many fruits that falls into either of these brackets.

Why do people associate durian as heaty (no I'm not challenging it)?  I'm sure some of us knows or heard friends saying they gotten a sore throat the next day after eating durian the night before.  But is that necessarily heaty effect caused by durian?  

Using some logical balance.  If we consume durian shortly before bed, there will still be some durian flesh lodged in our throat.  The 'fermentation' while we sleep, will cause the throat to feel inflamed the next day.  It is natural.

The 'trick' to try and avoid a sore throat the next day, it is better to consume durians hours before bed and wash it down with water.  If it is taken too near bed time, there isn't enough fluid to wash it all down.  That bit stuck in the throat is what is causing the problem.  Try it!

Even when we drank too much beer (some claimed it is cooling, but I am almost convinced it is not), do you get phelm in the throat the next morning?  I do.  So, to what extend is beer cooling?

Coming to mangosteen.  Is it really cooling?  An extract from another site shared some insight.

THE FACT is there is NO scientific proof that mangosteens can reduce heatiness

THE VERDICT: Honestly, mangosteens had a limited effect in countering “heatiness”. It was just our minds trying to psyche ourselves that they did. We experienced a “heaty” feeling a few hours later.

According to conventional Chinese wisdom, a mangosteen, being a cooling fruit, will reduce the heatiness associated with durians. However, there is no scientific research to support this. The habit of eating durians and mangosteens together probably stems from the fact that the two fruits are harvested at about the same time.

https://says.com/my/lifestyle/eating-cooling-fruits-like-mangosteen-will-cool-you-after-eating-heaty-durians

Now, let's say you are feeling a little heaty.  What can you do about it? Some cuts down on heaty food  (eg fried food) and drink more water or some falls sick and take medicine.  My personal remedy, mini bitter gourd (called Bitter Melon in the West). Not the full grown ones but the baby ones.  Not that full grown ones doesn't work, but I think the mini ones works better.

Bitter gourd is a vegetable so it is unlikely going to be too cooling for health, but it effectively purge heatiness. Only problem is, not that many can accept the taste.  Learn to!  It brings a host of benefits to our health.  (happened to watch on TV, mini bitter gourd juice [as in, using juice extractor] is good for diabetic).

If you have access to mini bitter gourd, all you need is 4-5 pieces of mini bitter gourd, de-seed and do a few slits across.  Boil (approx 2 liters water).  Once it started boiling, add 1 teaspoon of salt and leave to cool. Drink like you drink water daily.

Try it. This is my own remedy which I use every time I feel heaty.

To sum it up.  

-  If we approach this from scientific point, a lot are unproven.  So, do we take more to the side of Science or Traditional Believes?

-  Both durians and mangosteens are high in calories.  

    ~ Durians are said to contain 50 calories per seed while 

    ~ each whole mangosteen (approx 100g) contains approx 60 calories.  

    ~ Do take it in moderation.

No wonder my diet never succeed.  DIET = DIE Trying!

Jing Feng Jing Feng (Phoenix), Soar To The Skies

Funny how I missed out writing on this till I received a message asking if I can write on this.  I have always been under the impression I must have done this already since it is one of my favourite durian.  

The Name
As heard... Going back decades ago, this durian farmer has this wonderful durian but doesn't know what to name it, so he called the durian Jing Feng, which is the name of his wife.  I think he must have loved his wife a lot.

This durian is rumoured to originate from Tangkak (Johor) and the original tree is easily 60 years old now.

Visual

It is usually a small durian, regular roundish shape.  From exterior looks, it won't catch your fancy, as it looks a bit more like an ordinary durian, or the kampung durian.  Thorns are small and regular and color of shell usually off green (tilting towards yellowish brown).  It really doesn't look outstanding.

Typically
It can range from 500g up to 1.5kg but personally, from my eating experience:
-  Smaller Jing Feng are usually sweet and weak tasting.
-  Bigger Jing Feng above 1.3kg are usually weak tasting too (I tends to perceive it's from a young tree)

Ideally, I would want my Jing Feng to weigh between 900g to 1.2kg, and the color of the shell to be not so clean/fresh green.

Texture, Taste, Aroma (Flesh)

The color is off white, not exactly biege but just off white.  Sometimes you get a shade of grey patches akin to what we perceive from biter durians.

The durian flesh is very thick and sticky.  Upon swallowing, you really wonder if it'll flow down, or up, it's just 'STUCK' in the throat kind of feeling.  This would suggest the moisture level is lower than some other durians, thus the very sticky and thick feel.

It has pleasant and strong aroma, flora effect, and not overwhelming like MSW would.  The only durian that seems to be closer in comparison would be Cai Yuen.  Not forgetting, small seeds.

Choosing
Light smelling is good enough.  Go for those that are less appealing than the nice bright/fresh green.  I seriously would avoid big Jing Feng.

Noteworthy 

This fruit is not so popular with those who have never tried Jing Feng.  Ok if you have never tried it, stay away (if everybody tries and likes it, I won't be able to get sufficient Jing Feng).  

I would rate this durian as the most value for money durian.  Why so?  Let us compare this with, the extreme, MSW, in a few aspect:
-  Weight : A typical Jing Feng is about 1kg while MSW is 2-3kg.  The per kilogram price of Jing Feng is about the same as MSW (or sometimes more expensive).  If you buy the equivalent in weight, you get more in flesh.
-  Flesh : Very thick, pound for pound more than MSW
-  Seeds : Small!  MSW is not consistently small while Jing Feng is.
-  Shell : Jing Feng has rather thin shells while MSW are thick and heavy.

If we extract flesh out of Jing Feng and MSW (say, equivalent in weight), minus the seeds, I would think you get more weight from Jing Feng than you would from MSW.

This is possibly the most worthy durian!  It never fails with anyone so long as you are a durian lover.  Be it from a children, to anyone with a sweet tooth or those who simply knows how to indulge in a good durian.

However, if you are a "one-type' restrictive consumer (eg, strictly sticking to MSW), you are just loving 1 durian and not a fanatic or lover.  A durian lover/fanatic will try different durians and appreciate the various taste that comes with it.  Typically, I would zoom in on a certain 2-3 durian variants per season than stick to only one type.

Personally

Of Malaysia produced durians, there are two variants that makes me forgo D24, MSW, or any other variants that are commonly available.  I would choose a good Jing Feng or Tekka anytime.  This is one durian I tends to eat every year and never gotten sick of (while I'm quite bored with MSW)

In my perception.... 8.5/10.

------------------ Photos and Crash Test Dummies ------------------ 

I'll go on a hunt this week and update with photos (I don't happen to have any in my collection).