Fresh Luo Han Guo - have you seen/tried it before?

I was just doing some grocery shopping on Tuesday night at Mid Valley's Aeon Big when I came across this whole shelf of interesting looking fruits/vegetables. As I looked closer at the stacks of boxes on the shelves, I realized that they're actually fresh Luo Han Guo that I've never seen in my life (really.....I've only seen the dried ones).

This fruit is more commonly found at Chinese medicine shops in their dried form (round, brown fruit) & costs around RM1.50/fruit these days. My mum boils it like a herbal tea to repel body heat & she will also boil it when we are having cough.

Apparently, the fresh Luo Han Guo is good for heat stroke/thirst, acute and chronic throat inflammation, aphonia, chronic cough, constipation and as a sugar substitute for diabetics! I read on the small information sheet that came with the box of fresh Luo Han Guo that these fresh fruits have are higher in vitamin C, fiber & flavanoids compared to the dried fruit since the drying process requires the fruit to be treated at up to 80ºC fo 48 hours. The process may preserve the fruit for longer periods, but will also lead to depletion in nutrients.

The skin & flesh of the fruit cannot be eaten as it is (it looks like mangosteen!), so you'll have to wash the fruit clean, crush it & put it into a pot to be boiled with 4-5 cups of water for 10 minutes. The small leaflet suggests to add 2 slices of ginger as well. The drink is REALLY sweet & actually has the licorice bark ("kam chou") taste, so the drink reminded me of those birds' nest with ginseng. Yes, birds' nest with ginseng! You can boil the fruit twice, so my mum actually placed 2 fruits into the pot & we had 2 pots of fresh Luo Han Guo drinks...YUMS! All for just RM2.90/box of 4 fruits from Aeon Big Mid Valley...I think it's a promo price, but it's SO worth the try!

Try it & you'll see what I mean :D


Highly intrigued,