Monk fruit
Siraitia grosvenorii · Sweetener
Monk fruit, also called luo han guo, is a small round gourd from a perennial vine native to southern China (Siraitia grosvenorii). Sold as a dried fruit for tea or, far more commonly, as a refined extract, it sweetens with a clean intensity many times that of sugar yet carries virtually no calories — its sweetness coming not from ordinary sugars but from a family of compounds called mogrosides.
Picking a good onedrag
Whole, light, sweetly driedDamp, musty, mould-spotted
Smooth and deep brownEveryday brewingThe working fruit. Simmer it into tea, or drop a piece into a soup or broth to sweeten the pot without adding sugar or calories.
Look the shell overWhole and hard, rubbed smooth and a deeper brown, with a shallow scuff or two from the sack
Weigh it and shake itLight and hard, with the smallest shift inside when you shake it by your ear
Crack one open and smell itDarker amber pulp, the smell more toasty and earthy than fruity, still clean and sweet