What it actually is
Red Prawn is D175, known in Hokkien as Ang Heh and in Mandarin as Hong Xia. It comes from Penang, and it is named for the colour of its flesh rather than for any prawn flavour. The pods come out a reddish orange close to the colour of cooked prawn, and that is the whole of the story behind the name.
It sits at the sweet, low-bitterness end of the premium range, which has made it one of the more sought-after varieties in Singapore. In some seasons it has been priced above Musang King.
How to spot it
The fruit is roughly rugby-ball shaped. Penang-grown fruit tends to be browner in the husk, and where it is grown in Johor the husk runs brown with a greenish base to the thorns, which is a useful marker in itself.
Two features separate it from its usual impersonator. Thorns run all the way down to the base, so there is no bald patch and no clear star seam at the bottom. And the fruitlets sit some distance in from the husk, so the shell reads thicker than you might expect for the weight.
Inside, the flesh is the point: a distinctive reddish orange to vermillion, deeper and redder than the plain orange of most varieties. Seeds are small to medium, which keeps the usable flesh per fruit high.
What it tastes like
Sweet, and sweet early. There is very little bitterness to speak of, which is exactly why people who bounced off Musang King often settle here.
The texture is its other signature: noticeably sticky, firmer than the softest clones, clinging to the seed rather than collapsing off it. There are caramel notes through the sweetness and a faint floral edge behind them.
The aroma is rich and genuinely pungent, so it is not a shy durian in a small flat. Sweet on the palate does not mean mild in the room.
Against Musang King, the trade is simple: you give up the bittersweet complexity and get cleaner sweetness and a stickier bite. Against D13, which is the variety most often sold in its place, the real D175 has a redder flesh, a stronger smell and smaller seeds.
What to watch for
This is the variety most worth checking before you pay, because much of what is sold as Red Prawn in Singapore is actually D13, a Johor variety whose name comes from Batu 13 in Pagoh and which was only registered in 2022, as D226. It is a perfectly good durian. It is not D175, and it does not command the Penang name.
Some sellers are upfront about it and label theirs “Singapore Red Prawn”, which is a signal worth reading rather than a reassurance.
Three checks, in order of reliability:
- Seeds. D175 runs small to medium. D13 has large seeds. Big seeds make D175 very unlikely.
- Base. D175 carries thorns down to the bottom. D13 has a bald patch there and no star seam.
- Husk. D175 is brownish, often with green at the thorn base. D13 is a fresher overall green.
If the seller opens the fruit in front of you, the flesh colour helps too: D175 leans genuinely red, while D13 is bright orange. Neither is a guarantee on its own, which is why it is worth checking more than one. The stall-side sequence covers the general version.
Who it suits
Anyone who wants a premium durian without the bitter finish, and anyone buying for people who say they do not like durian but have only ever been handed Musang King.
It is also a good gift durian for the same reason: sweet, striking to look at when opened, and much less likely to divide a table. Just be clear about which one you are buying, because the gap between D175 and the fruit commonly sold as it is a gap in price as well as provenance.