The 2 White-Fleshed Mangifera Species (together at last)

[red durian]

Got these 2 today to try to understand them better.  The one on the left that looks like a manatee is too sour for me to eat out of hand but has a delicious cheesy odour.  The other one is sweet, richly flavoured (like cheese)  and has less odour.  If I am not mistaken, manatee is M. kemanga and the other is M. caesia.   I've read that M. kemanga seeds are sliced and eaten with soy sauce.  I will have to be careful trying that.

[FloridaGreenMan]

Man they look like potatoes! Very interesting!

[red durian]

I made juice from the M. kemanga (manatee fruit) and squeezed it through a cloth expecting to get fiber in the cloth, but everything went through.  My wife said the juice was good, very aromatic and cheesy.




My son drank his big cupful  happily without stopping.

[Ethan]

Very interesting fruits and with a cheesy flavor....sounds...good?  The juice does look refreshing and obviously a hit at home too.

[Felipe]

My GF wants to travel with me to Thailand next February, but I think I should rather head to Malaysia.. I would love to try those mangiferas and other Borneo fruits..

Thanks for sharing!

[FloridaGreenMan]

Felipe
Agree with you, Borneo sounds like the better place to go. Look for the rare Durian species like Durio dulcis!

[Mike T]

M.caesia apparently varies alot in quality and characterists across it distribution.A friend found great ones in Bali after being disappointed with them in Java.

[red durian]

We carefully tried to eat the seed of M. kemanga.  I sliced it in half and it was very fiberous.  Some liquid came out so I put it on the back of one of my fingers to see if it was an irritant.  It was fine.  Then we nibbled a tiny thin piece of the seed for a moment to see if it irritated the tongue.  My wife found it bitter, and I thought it might be irritating my tongue, so we gave up on the sliced seeds in soya sauce experiment.  There must be something we don't know, like maybe the seed is eaten immature, or maybe it is boiled first.